The Last of Us: The Story Continues
by SOWritings
Summary: This is a possible path for after the game. It leads them on yet another adventure. It holds to themes from the game, and just expands upon them. Rated M for language, and possible lemons...
1. Chapter 1

I DO NOT OWN OR CLAIM RIGHT TO ANY OF THE ORIGINAL CHARACTERS TO THE LAST OF US. (I DON'T EVEN OWN THE GAME, NOR DID I ACTUALLY PLAY IT.)...I watched the complete play through on You Tube, (multiple times! It's so good!) Anyway... The story inspired me. The game was beautiful and the writers are geniuses! Anyway I digress... This is my take on what happens after the end of the game. Hope you like it.

_Six months had passed since they had returned to Tommy's. They had built a routine for themselves. But, could never fully immerse themselves in it. They had just been through far too much to try and live a normal life. Their relationship had its ups and downs. Case in point was when Joel finally told Ellie the truth about what happened. After four months Joel could no longer handle the secret he had, so he told her. He knew it would cause a major uproar, and possibly tear them apart. But he could no longer look at her without her knowing. It of course was not taken well. Initially she ran away. Stealing a horse again, and causing him and his brother to chase after. This time however, it took Tommy's wife to convince her to come back to town.

Eventually things smoothed out. Especially since Joel was able to give Ellie the last recorded diaries of Marlene. These helped his case a great deal. In a way this turmoil caused them to grow closer. There no longer was this wall between them. They could finally move on. Thus, life improved exponentially. They found themselves easing into a lifestyle, one that suited them. They did not hold to the monotony that was their first few months there. No, they created their own rituals. They would wake early and hunt or fish, then collect firewood, or other supplies. Hard labor suited them. In a way it helped fill the void of their past strains.

Evenings were a special time for them. They had their meals in their room. Joel crafted a small table for in front of the couch, and they would have their meal together sitting back on the couch with their legs up on the table. Though his original intention was to use it as a dining table, this was their treat for the day, and a luxury they relished in. Once every meal was on the run, and that's if they could find one. Now they had more than enough, and were practicing absolute gluttony, by eating on a couch with their feet up. As they ate they would tell stories. As per usual, after her fourth helping Ellie would fall into a food coma. Joel would dust off all the food crumbs off her, lift her up, and take her to bed.

Heading back to the couch he picked up the remnants of their meal and packed them away. After all was tidied up he slumped down on the couch. Looking around, he took in his surroundings. The town had converted old shipping storage containers into housing. Along their narrow house were short partitions and half walls. He could see Ellie sleeping in her bed from where he was. He could not believe how much it relieved him to see her like this. Out of all the regrets in his life, taking her away from the fireflies was defiantly not one of them. And, now that all was revealed about what went down that day his life finally felt right. There were no more secrets, only new memories to make. He leaned back and took in a big breath, and stretched his arms up toward the window. From behind him he could hear a commotion. Opening his eyes he noticed the city lights dimmed for a second then all spotlights shot on, and the raid alarm rang.

"Awe shit," he said out loud as he sprang up and looked out the window. From beyond the city he could see a concentration of armored vehicles all lined up and ready to fire.

"That's not good." Joel pushed away from the window and quickly made his way to Ellie.

"Baby girl get up." He yelled through the first blasts from the armored vehicles as he shook her awake.

Ellie grumbled and rubbed her eyes, "what, why? Is it morning... What the hell is that?"

"No, there is a raid going on. We need to get to Tommy and the others."

"What, fuck! Dam it!" She said with a stunned and far less groggy tone.

"Get dressed and get your gear."

They quickly got dressed for the late winter weather outdoors, and frantically packed their bags with all their gear. They were unsure how long they would be gone. In a way they were prepared for this. Over the last month scouts from the village had spotted a higher concentration of tourist in the area. Most hoped they were just passing through, but more and more sighting were made. Plans were made for emergency evacuation. They had just recently relocated half of the families to a nearby town, which was hidden in an much bigger dam facility. There they had more access to power and clean water. It was the intention to move all the families to this new location, it just would have been preferred to not have to leave so much behind.

Dashing down the long stairway Joel and Ellie found the back entrance to the underground tunnel leading out of the town. Many families were squishing past them, and frantically running for their lives. Great booming sounds reverberated through the concrete walls, and shook the ground.

"Ellie, where are you? Give me your hand." Joel yelled through the sea of frightened townspeople.

"Joel, I'm here."

She called back, and grabbed his hand.

They made their way to the end of the tunnel where they saw Tommy standing at the checkpoint, counting every head that passed.

"Fifty-seven... Fifty-... Joel, Ellie, get a move on. Maria is leading the group to the next checkpoint. "

Joel nodded and continued down to the tunnel.

It was not till midday that they finally reached the entrance to the new town settlement. Everyone managed to make it, which was a great relief. By late afternoon, all were settled in, and being assigned to temporary lodgings. They were all to sleep in the massive underground storage unit.

Joel and Ellie secured a location close to the back exit. They planned to wake early and start hunting. The town needed supplies badly, and they especially needed food. Zipping his sleeping bag shut Joel grumbled out of discomfort.

"Miss the couch huh?" Ellie snidely remarked, as she turned on her side in her sleeping bag toward him.

"Helped me not feel my age at least." He said hyper extending his neck, which resulted in a loud crack and pop.

Ellie grimaced at this, and followed his example in competition. She however, only was able to produce a low crunch sound.

They both laughed for the next half hour, half at how miserable their sleeping situation was, and half at their realization that their misery was just from poor sleeping conditions, and not anything serious.

Eventually They found sleep. Joel was dreaming of summer days on his porch picking away at his six-string, when he was suddenly stirred awake by Tommy.

"Joel, get up. I need you to look at something."

"Eh, what? What is it?" Joel said lifting himself up and reaching for his pack.

"You won't need that. Come on."

Joel quickly put on his boots and followed Tommy up the stairs, into the main control room. There was a dim light throughout the room from all the active green lights of the control units.

"Over here," called Tommy, who was heading to a cluttered desk with a light hanging low over it.

"What's this all about Tommy?"

"Here" Tommy said, handing Joel a leather bound journal.

"What is it?"

"Just read it."

Joel pulled out a chair from the desk and sat down under the light. Squinting his eyes he looked at the page, he could see hand written cursive writing in dark blue ink that read:

_March 10_

_ I am the only one left. They killed the others. I can't believe it. I managed to get out just in time. I don't think they know I'm still alive. _

_ Oh god. I don't know what to do. I wish I didn't have anything to do with this. Not like we knew what we were getting into. Perry, insisted we needed this to save the lab. So, I guess we had no choice. We especially had no choice when the government got involved. How could we have known we were going to be responsible for the genocide of mankind. I didn't fucking know, that's for sure. _

_ I did return to the lab after they abandoned it. I wanted to see if I could at least salvage some of my old data. Sadly most of it was locked away. I guess I will have to make it to our safe house. Perry had hidden away some security pass codes and key chips there. Maybe I will be able to try and fix this. All I know for certain that I cannot trust the government, and I sure as hell can't trust the fireflies. _

Joel quickly scanned over the book, and flicked through the many pages of writing, trying to quickly find out more information. As he flipped through the pages he could see the writing become more stressed. Some pages only had short entries, one for instance was not even dated and just had the single phrase 'Fuck this!' in the middle. As he reached the end of the journal he could see something written in the inner cover at the bottom edge.

_ Dr. June Ridgemore_

Joel looked up at Tommy and gripped the book.

"Well?" Tommy questioned him.

"Well what?"

"Well, here is a second chance."

"For what? Another wild goose chase where we almost die and end up with nothing again?"

"No, Joel. Can't you see. This woman is one of the developers of the original strain. She could help."

"You seem to put a lot of trust in someone you just read the journal of."

"Dam it Joel!" Tommy exclaimed as he hit his fist down on the desk, crumpling a pile of documents.

"What Tommy! What do you want me to say? I know for dam sure I'm l not going jeopardize Ellie's safety again. She has been through too much."

"But what about her future. You know from these last few months whenever she gets sick it takes her longer and longer to get better. She needs someone who knows what they are doing, and well this Dr. Ridgemore may just be who she needs. Fuck, she may be able to help us all."

"And how do you know she will be able to treat her, how are you so god dammed certain Tommy?"

"Here," Tommy ripped the journal from Joel's grasp and flicked though several pages, then plopped the book in front of Joel.

As Joel scanned the page, Tommy recanted the journal entry. It spoke of the early testing period. How she and her team were slowly becoming aware of what was actually going on, and how they secretly were working of counter research.

"They were on to something Joel. Ellie could be a key to helping her find a vaccine."

"And what makes you feel like we can trust this person?"

"She is all alone Joel, she made it clear that she would not side with anyone."

"Okay, and how exactly am I supposed to find her?"

"There are slight hints as to where she has been. The last location she mentioned was somewhere on the border of Nevada and California."

"Shit Tommy," Joel said as he rubbed his forehead and ran his fingers through his salt and pepper hair. "How exactly am I supposed to get all the way over there?"

"We have horses, we can spare a few for you and Ellie."

"Okay? But, we don't even know how Ellie will feel about this. She may event not want to go."

"Fuck yeah I do!"

Joel and Tommy both jumped at Ellie's sudden intrusion.

"Ellie, when did..."

"Come on Joel, like I said before, this all couldn't have been for nothing."

She began to leaf through the pages of the journal, and leaned over the desk into the light.

"Dam this chick writes in cursive, who does that?"

"Well I guess its settled then." Joel sighed. "It's probably for the best. You are going to have your hands full building up this town and helping out with that new baby of yours."

"Hey don't guilt trip me. Ya'll knew that things weren't over yet."

"Yeah... Reckon they weren't ." Joel said as he watched Ellie eagerly leaf through the pages.


	2. Chapter 2

Two days later they stood at the back entrance with Tommy and his wife. She was nine months pregnant, could barely stand from the weight, but insisted she needed to be there for this.

"Well little brother, adios again," Joel said as he shook Tommy's hand.

"Just make sure you come back, you got a nephew to help raise."

"Nephew, eh. It's going to be a girl and you know it."

"You can just pay me when you get back and find out you lost the bet."

Joel laughed at this, and turned to Maria, who was reaching up to give him a hug.

"You be safe out there. Make sure you come back to us."

Joel only nodded at this, and took a few steps back, as he waited for Ellie to finish her goodbyes.

After her hugs, and a few whispered words between Maria Joel lifted up the gate handle.

"Ready kiddo."

"Yup."

With that they began their journey.


	3. Chapter 3

"So what's the deal with cursive? Why did you have to learn it?"

"I don't know, it's just something they used to teach in school."

Throughout the last three months, when they weren't running for their lives, or hiding from hoards of infected, Ellie's eyes were glued to the doctors journal. Some pages she could recite from memory. By now they had crossed the border of Nevada, and were now in California. They were in the thick of Yosemite National Park.

They were down to just two horses. Their third horse had to be used as bait for a hoard of runners back in Nevada. Thinking about it now, Joel thought it appropriate to hope that 'what happened in Vegas stayed in Vegas.' Ellie however was still sore from the loss of Callus Jr. He shook his head at that name, he still hated that name. He did however enjoy the name she gave his current horse, Zeus. Zeus was a draft horse, and even though Joel was a pretty burly man, he felt small on this beast. Ellie was on a little Appaloosa, the very one that was used to carry their supplies. Between the two of them, Zeus would have been enough, but it was always good to have a backup.

They had ridden through the night, and the high noon sun was at its peak. They were deep into summer by now, and it was a California summer too. Beyond any hot they had known for some time.

"Hey Ellie let's stop here for a while." Joel called back to her, as he pointed to a tree covered bank next to the river.

"Kay."

Joel tied up the horses next to the river so they could get some water. By now it felt like it had to be at least 112 degrees. Ellie sat under the tree and had her eyes trained on the journal.

"You ever going to put that thing down girl?"

"Nope." She quickly responded without looking at him.

"Well put it down for now, we need to go find some food. I think I saw some blackberry vines along the path back there."

"Blackberries? "

Joel laughed at her question, "Yeah, you'll just have to see for yourself. I'm sure as soon as you have one you'll clear the hole bush."

They cautiously walked through a thicket of trees to a open path leading to blackberry bushes. They kept their eyes trained on the ground. For the last two miles they had come across many traps. Some meant for hunting, but others seemed to be designed for bigger pray. Together they hoped that they were for runner and clicker prevention, and not for cannibals. That was something they really did not want to deal with again.

As they cleared the thicket Joel immediately noticed some rustling ahead. Motioning to Ellie to kneel down and keep out of sight. He pushed a sharp thorny veins aside he spotted a dark figure some distance away from them. The figure looked to be human. But he was not sure if it was infected. "Stay behind me, and keep your eyes open. Not sure if there are more around."

"Duh!" Ellie whispered.

Shaking his head he continued on the path ahead toward the figure. Only Ellie could be comical in such a serious moment as this. Had they really been through so much that this no longer fazed her? Putting that aside he focused on this figure. As he came close he noticed that this person was covered in mud, and that they were busy with something, not lifelessly standing there waiting for the incoming sound of a meal.

Now that he was nearly twenty feet from this person he could tell it was a woman. Her hair was short and slicked back with dry mud crust crumbling off with her movements. She was collecting blackberries. She was filling a small grass hand woven basket, which was nearly full. Just by looking at all those berries Joel's stomach nearly betrayed him by making a loud grumble. Sitting back he looked to Ellie, whom was close by. He was not sure how he should approach this person. He did not know if she was alone, and he didn't feel like walking into a ambush. As he turned toward her again he decided to move in closer. But, from behind him came a lout crack. Ellie had accidently broke a branch with her foot.

A sudden moment of chaos broke out at this moment. Joel's breath in felt like it was punched down this throat. He pushed back into the berry veins and braced himself for action. He could hear light steps coming toward him. Looking to Ellie he could see her trying to apologize through her eyes and mouth 'sorry.' He had no time to pull out a weapon, so he readied himself to attack. As soon as he saw the boot of the woman cross his path he sprang up and knocked her onto her back, landing hard on the ground. He held her down with one of his arms across her chest, a hand on her neck, and a leg bracing her thighs down. The woman put up a fight; scratching, kicking, and yelling several vulgar threats. All the while the only thing that was keeping his attention was her face. She was covered in mud, and it was crumbling off more and more through her movements. Her bright blue eyes and white teeth were a shock to the eye in contrast to the dark mud.

"Joel! Wait. Don't hurt her!"

Wailed Ellie from behind.

Joel could feel the woman slightly twitch out of surprise to Ellie's sudden presence. He then felt her somewhat relax when Ellie came into view. The presence of a child companion saved his life before.

"Who are you and what do you want?"

The woman spat out, struggling under the full weight of Joel.

"We are not here to hurt you. We are only passing through."

"Hell of a way to greet someone, you must be popular with the ladies from the shit hole you crawled out of."

Joel winced at this, and unconsciously pushed down a little more of his weight on her. She let out a slight grunt with this.

"Look lady we are sorry, we were not sure if you were going to kill us, that's all. We only wanted to get some berries, and you just happened to be in the same place."

"Right, well, if we are not going to hurt me, then can you please get off me. Because I'm pretty sure there is a rock jammed in the side of my lower back, and I am beginning to lose feeling in my legs."

Cautiously Joel looked to Ellie for approval. Reading her nod he slowly lifted himself up, and off her. The woman did not move immediately.

"Give me a second please," she said as she pulled at her hip and popped her back. A loud clicking crunch was followed by a soft exhaled grunt from her.

"So... could you help me up?"

"Sure." Joel said as he offered her a hand.

The mud crumbled off her hand as he gripped it.

When she stood they were able to get their first good look at her. She was about 5'7" and had a slender frame. Her hair was short, and from what few strands were free of mud, it looked to be a brownish blond color, it was hard to tell. Around her eyes, and especially across her chest where he held her down he could see that her skin was very fair. She wore a tight one piece bathing suit with a ratty cloth wrapped loosely around her waist.

"So why are you covered in mud lady?" Ellie finally said.

"Harvesting honey."

Joel and Ellie both looked at her confused.

"What you two both haven't seen Apocalypto?"

They still looked confused.

The lady sighed, and rubbed her crusted head, "It keeps the bees from stinging me."

"Oh." They said in unison.

"Anyway, what's on earth is a father daughter duo doing out in the middle of nowhere? Some kind of crazy survivor camping excursion?" The woman said with a comical hand gesture.

"She is not my daughter, she is my..."

"Oh, sorry. You guys from some sort of new religioso group with young wives or something?"

"No! God no. We, uh. I am just her guardian of sorts. That's all."

"Okay?... Well.. It's been nice chatting with ya and all. But... Uh... I got things to do. And yeah... Well... So... Joel...? and...?"

"Ellie."

"And Ellie... okay. Well good luck on your camping trip." With that she turned and walked over to her basket.

"Wait. What's your name?"

"What does it matter, you are just going to call me crazy mud lady when I'm out of earshot."

Ellie snorted at this, attempting to stifle her laugh.

"No... really. What is your name. We are looking for a Dr. June Ridgemore. And, seeing as you are the first person we have seen alive since we crossed the border, we are wondering if you knew or met her?"

The lady cocked her head slightly and gave Ellie an odd look.

"Why? What's the big deal with this June chick?"

Joel noticing the tension build slightly he moved in close to Ellie, and said, "It's nothing, we should be on our way. I am sorry that we bothered you."

Ellie tried to pull away from Joel, but he grasped hard on her shoulder, and began to lead her away. They made it a few feet till they heard her yell, "No wait!" But it was too late. Ellie's foot tripped a small rope trap that cinched around her right ankle in seconds and pulled her down and into the berry bush.

"Ahh Fuck!"

"Ellie! Ellie, don't move! Oh shit!"

The woman ran toward them and attempted to help Joel pull away the thick vines digging into Ellie's legs.

"I'm sorry, I forgot it was there."

"It keeps pulling her, what should we do."

"Here, hold her in place. I will run around and cut the line."

Quickly the woman dashed around the bush, and climbed up into the tree. He could hear her cutting at the rope followed by and thump of something large falling.

"That better!? She yelled from the other side of the bush."

"No. Still fucking stuck in this shit!" Spat Ellie.

"Well at least you are not going any further!"

Joel began to pull up at the vines wrapped around Ellie. He cautiously pulled them up. Some had pierced her skin, and caused her to bleed. With him cut as well he was not so sure he should be touching her. He may get infected from this. Not to alarm this woman, he unwrapped his jacked from his waist and used it to protect his hands.

One by one he pulled and untangled the vines off of Ellie.

"Here, let me help." Said the woman from behind him. She then knelt down next to him and began to help him.

"Look, I uh." The woman began. "I don't know what you want, but I'm June, well...Dr. June Ridgemore, granted that title means nothing now. But anyway. Why exactly are you looking for me?"

Ellie perked up at this and burst out, "Your her?"

"In the flesh. Why you disappointed?"

"No... It's just... Well I thought you'd be more nerdy."

"Well I left my thick glasses back at the house sorry." June said in retort.

Joel finally pushed away the last vine.

"Alright baby girl, you think you can pull yourself out now?"

"Let me... Owww! Shit! Ahhh. I think there is something wrong with my ankle."

"Here let's just pull." June said over Joel's shoulder.

Together they pulled Ellie out. As soon as she cleared the bush June knelt down and undid the rope from Ellie's ankle.

"Oh shit."

"What? What is it? Joel?" Ellie panicked.

Joel looked over and saw that Ellie's ankle was slowly turning blue. It was broken for sure.

"Oh man. Looks like it's broken."

"Shit! Dam it!" Ellie cursed through gritted teeth.

"Look I can help, but you will have to come with me."

"Sure lead the way, I'll carry her."

"No. Where we will be going you have to swim. And she is in no shape for swimming."

"Heh, that's great I can't swim anyway."

"Now. Wait. I'm not about to leave here all alone out in the middle of nowhere injured."

"Relax. She will be in a safe place. I'm taking more risk here. I'm the one showing you the way to my secret checkpoints and to my hideout."

Joel shrugged at this, realizing this was true.

"Okay, just as long as it's fast."

"You carry her and I will gather up my things."

Joel followed June down a zigzag path. He carried Ellie over his shoulder, and pulled at the leads of the reluctant horses behind him. June also had her hands full. She had big military rucksack loaded with jars of honey, and two big baskets of freshly picked berries. Pushing through a narrow thicket she stopped and began to drop her goods.

"Just put her down anywhere here. She will be safe. This area is filled with traps within the next two miles. Nothing will be able to pass. I would strap those horses down. I can't guarantee their safety if they run off."

Joel slowly lowered Ellie down.

"Oh. And you will want to unload as much gear as possible. You don't want anything to drag you down. Might want to strip some layers." June said as she rearranged her berry baskets.

Joel raised his brow slightly at this, but was not going to argue with her. He took his bag off and used it to elevate Ellie's foot, and untied his jacket from around his waist. He then pulled out his pistol and shoved it into his back pocket.

"Okay, kiddo?"

"I'm okay."

"Don't worry Ellie, we will be back soon. Follow me Joel."


	4. Chapter 4

They quickly backtracked the way they came, with June occasionally stopping to re-set traps. Joel marveled at her ingenuity. He had some exposure of traps from Bill, but these were far more sneaky, and some downright lethal. No wonder this woman had survived for as long as she had. He continued to follow her closely for the next ten minutes, keeping only the places she walked. He still did not trust this woman, so he kept his eyes trained on her every move.

Eventually they reached a hillside with a small cave.

"In here." She said as she darted in, "watch your head."

"Alright."

The light was dim in the cave, and the ceiling got lower and lower. Eventually she came to a fork in the cave, turning to her left she pushed away some ivy and slipped into a secret passageway.

"You think you will fit?"

"I think I can." He said breathing out all his air in order to squeeze through.

They continued down this path a little ways, all the while the light became dimmer, and the ceiling lower.

"How good of a swimmer are ya?"

"Pretty good, why..." Before Joel could finish he noticed a small pool of water at the end of the cave.

June walked over to a small nook in the wall and pulled out a ratty old bag. She then tossed it down in front of Joel and unzipped it.

"Luckily I managed to raid a well stocked sports store before I came here."

She pulled out two pairs of goggles, a thin guideline, and a small air tank. She then returned the bag back to its hiding place. She stood there for a moment with both goggles in her hand, one bright pink pair, and another black. The black were obviously the better pair, but with a smirk on her face she shook her head and then tossed him the black pair.

"So I want you tie that to your belt loop. Any time you feel like you need air just give it a light tug. Okay? All you have to do when you use this is push the button." She demonstrated by holding the small tank on its side and took in a breath. "Unfortunately I only have one tank and its small. So try to stay calm, and swim fast... Oh, and you're not infected or have any weird thing happening with ya do you?"

He shook his head, and readjusted his goggle strap.

"Okay, well lets go. We will be swimming through two tunnel systems. We will hit a middle cave system, I'll tug on the line when we need to ascend."

He nodded again and followed her down into the water. She quickly tied the line around her wrist, took in a breath and dove down into the water. The water was murky, and the light was dim. He could barely see five feet in front of them. The tunnel went on for what seemed to be thirty feet. By the time they reached the first chamber Joel had to tug the line for air. She quickly turned and placed the mouthpiece over his mouth and pointed to the button. He took the air and released the trigger, she took a quick bit of air after him and then continued to swim. She picked up her pace as they reached the second tunnel. This one was far tighter than the last and with even less light than before. As they reached the end she gave the line a quick tug and she quickly led them to the surface. They both gasped as they reached the surface.

"Not bad, now we only have one more to go through. Up here." She said as she lifted herself out of the water and walked to a small nook in the cave wall. She pulled out a small crank flashlight and tested it. "So," she began as she cranked the flashlight to charge it. "This next tunnel is going to be pitch black and then we will need to read for the marker on the ground for the next tunnel. This can get a little stressful, seeing as there is a lot more silt in this next waterway, so just try to relax."

He nodded at this and followed her down into the next pool of water. As soon as they dove down he immediately noticed that the water was colder than the last chamber they were in, and that she was right, it was pitch black." All he could see was the dim beam of light from her flashlight. As they exited the tunnel he watched her scan her light over several tunnel entrances in the next chamber. He quickly tugged on the line and she turned to him giving him the air tank. She quickly turned and began to fan at the ground lifting the silt, then shining her light at the cave floor. He tugged the line again when he got his air and she turned and took a puff of air. When she did this however, he could tell from her crinkled brow that something was wrong. She repeatedly pressed the trigger on the tank, then removed the tank and shook it slightly. He could see signs of panic. He had to act quick, so he reached forward and pulled her in and locked lips with her, and gave her air. He felt her body calm and she slowly pushed away. She gave him a quick thumbs up and turned back to her work. She swam to the next tunnel and fanned at the ground. Shining her light she found a blue arrow pointing to the next tunnel. She then quickly pulled the line and they swam through and to the final chamber. With their desperation for air she did not need to pull the line to tell him to ascend.

They both gasped for air once they reached the surface.

"Oh my god that was dangerous! Fucking air tank!" June wailed though her gasps.

Joel was too tired to respond.

"Come on this way."

She led him to the side of the pool, where a constant flow of cold water was coming in. There was no light in this cave, and he could only assume that this cave was small due to the deafening sound from the water pooling in.

"Here come on." She pulled herself up and shined her light in front of him. "Careful its slippery."

He took her extended hand, and stood up straight. Which was a mistake because of the low ceiling.

"Shit. Oww."

"Oh sorry, never really had to worry about the low ceiling in here."

He rubbed his forehead, and could feel blood.

"Well, on a plus side we are done swimming. Here come this way."

Again she came to a point the wall where she pushed away some loose tree roots and revealed a way out. The sound of running water got louder and louder, till eventually they cleared the cave and revealed they were behind a waterfall.

Joel stood there for a moment and took in the scenery in a moment of awe.

"Pretty right?" June said casually, standing off to the side, as she rinsed off.

All of the mud was now off her skin. He could see that she had fair skin, and noticed she was pretty thin. But not in a unhealthy way, no she was lean, with not a spare once of fat on her.

"Come here and quickly rinse off. That shit we just swam through is all the runoff from the forest above. Really don't want to think about what's in there."

He did as she said willingly, he felt a layer of slick grime all over his skin, and could feel lumps of sediment in his clothes.

"Hey, um. When you do that could you turn away. I'm going to strip down. I usually leave my suit here."

"Okay, " he quickly responded.

"You may want to do the same. I should have something that will fit you. Again I really went to town at that sports gear shop. Came in really handy with the winters here. Have to wear four layers of clothes after that swim during the winter. Not a fan of hypothermia."

Joel shivered at the thought of swimming in this water in the winter. It was cold now. He could not imagine what it was like in the winter.

"So how'd you come across this cave system?"

"My fiancé was a spelunking enthusiast."

When she mentioned her fiancé, he knew she meant Rene. He had heard from Ellie's constant reading out loud of June's Journal. He knew that Rene was the lead researcher, an expert in Micro Biology and Entomology, and the manager of their lab. He was also the first to be killed. He wanted to avoid this topic at all costs, and he especially wanted to get to Ellie as soon as possible. It has to be nearly an hour since they left her.

"Hey," she called from the outside of the cave. I am leaving you a change of clothes here, I think they should fit. They may be a little on the hot side, but at least they aren't dirty. I'll be waiting out here for you."

As soon as he heard her slip around the cave wall he began to strip down. He rinsed everything through, even his boots. He wrung out his clothes and wrapped his jeans around his waist. looking to the pile she left, he noticed a towel on top of a dark gray pair of flannel pajama bottoms, and a basic white shirt, which looked to be fresh out of its package. He quickly dried off and got dressed.

"You ready?"

He heard her ask from around the corner.

"Yeah."

"They fit?"

"Yup, kinda snug, but appreciate it none the less."

"Eh, no worries, I am one of those few people who still believe in hospitality. However, those are going to suck once we get up into the canopy." She then pointed up to the top of the tree line.

Looking close Joel noticed something strange. There was a strange gleam to the trees, almost as if they were reflecting from something.

"Come on this way, now hold tight to the tree okay."

She then led him up toward a large redwood and pointed to several bent rebar pins, hiding under vines, that were evenly placed around the trunk like a spiral staircase.

"Just lean into the tree."

Joel really did not know what to say. He was not afraid of heights, but this was almost too much for him. But he did not have a choice.

"Okay." He said as he took in a breath and followed. They were surprisingly sturdy, granted they were a pretty thick gage of rebar, so no wonder. They climbed up a few stories when they reached the first couple of branches.

"Here, watch out." She said grabbing at a rope.

As she pulled a ladder shot down and she grabbed the rung and made her way in. Following her he found that she had taken him to some sort of crazy tree house.

"What do you think?"

He stood for a moment taking it all in. The walls were made of this almost see through glass, which was where that reflection he saw earlier came from. By far the one thing he noticed first was just how clean this place was. Over the past twenty years houses were left to disrepair. But this place looked immaculate, a bit rustic albeit, but clean none the less.

"Pretty nifty."

"I'll give ya the tour later, let's get Ellie."

She walked through the first door and across a narrow rope bridge. Looking over Joel took in the beautiful view of the forest and river below. They then reached this platform in the center of four other rope bridges with a cut out square in the middle.

"I'll need to reinforce the line on the left but it should be able to hold me and her. You think you can handle the crank mechanism?"

Seeing that it looked to be a basic pulley system, and being that he worked in construction prior to the world going to hell he figured he could manage. "Yeah I got this."

She quickly reinforced the main line with another rope and grabbed a jug of water and short basin.

"Alright lower me down. I will be leaving this water for the horses."

"Okay."

Joel unlocked the center platform and slowly lowered her down. It took a good ten minutes to get all the supplies and the whimpering Ellie loaded up onto the lift.

"Pull Joel."

The weight was significantly more with them and all the supplies. With each pull he felt the tension rise with the rope. As they grew closer he could see that Ellie was not moving, or talking.

"She okay?"

"Yeah, she just went into shock from the pain of moving. She will be fine."

This gave him more vigor to pull faster.

"Alright that's good, let's just lock this in place."

The lift jostled violently for a quick second, waking Ellie.

"What.. wow... what is this.. Owww!"

"Careful now. You need to keep still. Hey Joel you pick her up and I will get the supplies."

She picked up their packs first, and then walked to the bridge on the right. Here this way, she can stay in the library.

"Library?" He said quizzically taking slow wobbly steps onto the rope bridge.

"Yeah, I'm a nerd remember, can't live without my books."

She opened the door and ushered them in.

"Here let me move the pillows." June said rushing past and tossing the pillows aside.

He then lowered down the now sleeping Ellie, and remarked, "must of passed out again."

"Yeah... here. I'll get her cleaned up if you take in my supplies. Just take them down the center rope bridge into the kitchen. You can just leave them on the counter. Go ahead and grab a snack if you like."

She began to gently unlace Ellie's the boot of the broken ankle. As she pushed the sock down a little he could see all the skin was black and blue.

"Shhh... Poor thing, this is going to hurt for a while." June said half through her teeth.

Joel turned to leave the room, when June called to him.

"Hey can you bring back a jug of water and some towels... Oh, and does she have some spare clothes? There are blackberry thorns still stuck in her clothes."

"Yeah, she should have some in her bag there, I'll go get the water."

With that he turned on his heel and made his way to the main platform. Lifting up the massive bag full of honey jars, and two baskets of berries he cautiously made his way to the kitchen. Once inside he found a very modern designed room, with stainless steel counters, and simple straight cut wood cabinets. Finding the sink he turned the faucet, a large gush of water came out and continued to flow with an consistent flow.

"Must be coming from the river."

He searched the cabinets and found a small jug and basin, a bar of what he believed to be soap, and a small pile of towels. He walked as quickly as he could without spilling too much water back to the library. Once he opened the door he found June sitting on the edge of the bed with her well worn journal open on her lap. She had a gave expression on her face, and jumped when she heard his boot hit the floorboard. looking up she gave him a cross look, and said

"What exactly do you guys want with me? It can't be that you want to just return this to me can it?"

Joel stared at her, not knowing what to say.

"You are not with the fireflies are you? Because if..."

"No. We are not. We just want your help."

"Help with what." She said now raising her voice and standing.

"Look... Just look at her arm." Joel said pointing to Ellie's arm. "She is infected."

"What the fuck! And you brought her here!"

"No. No! She got bit almost three years ago. She seems to be immune."

June quickly reached for Ellie's arm and pulled up her sleeve.

"Oh my god." June said softly as she examined the scar closely.

"look, we are not with the fireflies, or with the government. We are just here to get her help. She has been fine except for when she catches a cold. They seem to last longer and longer each time. And... Well... From what you say in your journal you are the only one qualified to help her. So that is why we are here."

June took in a embarrassed quick breath with that last statement.

"So you read my journal from cover to cover then?"

Joel shrugged, he did not know what to say. He felt that apologizing would only make things worse here.

"Well, first thing first. I need to clean her up and re-set her ankle. I'm going to get some sticks to splint this. After we are done with Ellie we can talk about what you two have in mind."


	5. Chapter 5

It was close to dusk when they had finished with Ellie. It was a grueling process, and the sounds of resetting her ankle were something Joel still could not get out of his mind. Ellie had passed out cold from the pain. He wiped the tears staining her cheeks as he sat on the edge of the bed. June had left the room a few hours ago. They had yet to talk about what they were planning to do. She claimed she needed time to rest after the ordeal. As she left he watched her take the journal with her.

Seeing the sun start to set he felt it was time to finally get something to eat. Closing the door behind him, he walked toward the kitchen. He was almost used to the rope bridges, he found the key was not looking down. Movement from the right caught his eye, it looked to be from behind the kitchen. Once inside the kitchen he noticed a door, which he thought earlier was a window. Peaking through he saw June reclining in a hammock, reading her old journal. He slowly slid the door open, which caught June's attention.

"Where on earth did you find this thing?"

"Oh... I think my brother traded it for some food provisions."

"Heh. I lost this thing about two years ago. Some crazy hunters came through and I didn't have time to recover my pack. Didn't think much of it. They didn't look too smart. Figured they couldn't read."

Joel found a seat at a small table on the opposite side of the deck.

"So... Joel, you gonna tell me about yourself, or do you have a journal I can read?"

"look, I am only interested in your help with Ellie. I am sorry it had to happen this way."

She flung her feet down and sat up closing her book.

"Sorry... Look, it's been a long, long... long time since I have interacted with other people civilly. So forgive me for being short with you."

"Fair enough." He said turning his seat to face her.

"But seriously, tell me about yourself. That girl is in no shape to be moved for some time. So you will be my house guests for the next month, at least. You already know almost everything about me, even the stuff I wouldn't want you to know." She emphasized the last part in a low tone and averted her eyes to the floor.

"Well what do you want me to tell?"

"Everything, or at least fill me in about how you and the girl. Probably should fill me in on that, seeing as that's why you are here. And... I guess anything else you feel comfortable telling me."

Joel leaned forward to begin, but she quickly added, "Oh, and I suppose I require one embarrassing tale as payment. So where ever you want to start..." She said with a smile.

Seeing a smile was foreign to him. No one smiled anymore. Her smile was so shocking that he felt his old reflex to smile back in return, yet held back out of habit.

For the next few hours they talked. First about how he got involved with Ellie, then about the Fireflies, and about Tommy's. Eventually they trailed off about their past. They spoke of the old days before the infection. Joel felt a odd sort of familiarity with this woman. He felt for once a genuine quality that he thought had died out. He learned that she was in her forties, so already he felt he could speak more freely. He found with Ellie there was just certain things he could not say around her. Granted the girl had a foul mouth for her age, but that was just compensating for her innocence. No, June had lived through a similar hell to himself. She had lost all her family and friends all at once and was left to fend for herself for the last twenty years.

It was not till Joel's stomach started to growl loud that they realized the stars were already out.

"So you hungry or what?"

He laughed at her.

"Here let me scrounge up something for us. Go check on Ellie real quick. She may want something to eat as well."


	6. Chapter 6

Over the next three weeks this unexplained bond formed with them. Three normally closed individuals gradually opened up for the first time in years. June and Ellie got along instantly. Ellie was able to gain a friendship to a normal woman for once. Sure, she connected well with Maria, but June was more like her. June was unconventional, tomboy, and most of all she was a survivor. So of course Ellie would naturally gravitate to her.

Joel too felt this bond to June. Maybe because she had lost so much like him. He never wished this kind of a life on anyone. For him it was good to see someone else had suffered as much as he had, yet still was able to live on. Beyond this he was unclear about how he felt. He chalked it all up to their horrible lives, but there was something else there. Sure he found her attractive. But there was nothing beyond that. He had learned years ago to turn his attention away from relationships. He could not face things that reminded himself of the past. Sure he had Ellie, but that was different. It was because of his mindset he was able to move on and act quickly after Tess died. But now he felt he may be getting too close.

That night he kept to himself. After Ellie was settled he went to the hammock in the dining area, which was his unofficial sleeping quarters. He liked this spot for several reasons. One, he could see Ellie's room clearly, and make sure she was keeping to her bed. For the last week she had been caught several times snooping about the library. One of these times she had seriously hurt herself, prolonging her healing process. Another reason he liked this spot was the view above. When laying back, it lined up perfectly with a clearing in the canopy. He would watch the stars till he fell asleep each night, which made him feel nostalgic.

Just as he was about to close he eyes, he spotted a flash of light come from Ellie's room. Looking closely he could see the light moving.

"Dammit Ellie..." He growled as he lifted himself to his feet.

He walked through the kitchen and to her room. As he came close he could see her light go out. He shook his head at this, and came up to the door, and turned the handle.

"What are you doing girl? You know you need to stay in bed."

"I'm sorry Joel, I had to piss. Can I not piss?"

Joel shook his head. He was caught being over protective at this moment. "Okay fine then. Just... Stay in bed... Okay." Was all he said in attempt to recover.

"Yes mom!" She mocked.

He rolled his eyes and left the room. As soon as he made half way across the rope bridge from her room he noticed the lights were on in June's hut. Coming closer to the main platform he could see her standing with her arms behind her neck, with her hands gripping her hair. Her back was to the door, so he could not read her facial expression. But, from her stance he could tell she was struggling with something. As soon as he reached the platform she turned and braced herself on the dresser, and rested her forehead against it. He did not know if he should come over. He did not want to barge into something he had no business with. So he just turned and headed back to his hammock. As soon as he laid back his exhaustion hit him and he was fast asleep.

A few hours passed, till a rusting sound from the kitchen broke his slumber. His immediate thought was it was Ellie. "'Dammed girl was really testing me tonight.'" He thought as he sat up. Looking toward the kitchen he noticed the light of a lantern.

"Oh. Sorry. I didn't mean to wake you." June said poking her head out low from the side of the door.

He jumped slightly at this. He did not expect her to be on the floor.

"What... What time is it?"

"A little past midnight." She casually said, keeping her attention to the cabinet she was searching. "Ah. Good. There is still some left."

June pulled out a dusty old wine bottle.

Joel gave her a questioned look, as he rubbed the crust from his eyes.

"Yup. Today I'm celebrating." She said grabbing two glasses.

"What's the occasion?" He asked as he received his glass.

"This would have been my twenty-second wedding anniversary." She said pouring him wine.

He slightly choked on his breath at this comment.

"Yup..." She said out loud to herself holding her glass up for a toast. "Well, to broken dreams and surviving hell." Her voice slightly cracked at the end of her toast.

He watched her take a big swig of her drink, set her glass down hard on the table, then leaned back and ran her fingers through her hair.

"You'd think it would get easier with the years. But..." Her voiced cracked, and she took in a stifled breath. She was trying to hold back from crying.

"I know what you mean." Joel said as he kept his eyes on his mostly full glass. He never was a wine drinker, and he knew it wouldn't be strong enough for him to deal with this subject.

He quickly looked up at her. She pulled her knees up, and had her arms wrapped around them with her glass in her grasp. She was facing the kitchen, in profile to him. In the dim moonlight he could see a single tear stream down the side of her face and drop off her chin. He felt he needed to say something, or do something. But he did not know how to approach it. Tess, and many of the other woman he had interacted with didn't open up as much as June did. The world they lived in now put you in danger if you showed weakness. All he could think to say was what he told Ellie a year ago.

"Despite it all, as long as you find something to fight for it keeps you going..." He paused, and took a quick sip of his soured wine, then continued, "The bad memories will never go away, but as long as you keep your efforts moving forward... I guess it gets easier."

Together they sat in silence, finishing off their wine.

"Well, that was not nearly enough." She said standing up with the empty bottle. "Care for some experimental alcohol I made?"

"Yes." He quickly answered.

She laughed at his promptness. "Not a wine drinker are ya?"

He shook his head, and shrugged at this.

"Well I think you will like this then." She said from inside the kitchen.

He could hear her moving things around in the back of the lower cabinet. She then came out with a big mason jar of clear liquid.

"Is that what I think it is?" He said in disbelief

"Yup..." she cleared her voice, then cracked a smile as she attempted her best red neck accent while saying "It's 'white lightnin'!"

He chuckled at this.

"Hey, you're the one with the southern drawl, you tell me how they say it."

"Naw... You pretty much nailed it."

"Well... You wanna try it?"

He held his glass up.

"Well scoot," she said gesturing with the jar.

He moved to the right a little on the hammock, trying to make enough space for her.

"Last time I tried this stuff I couldn't even stand. So I'll stay close for refills."

She poured herself some and put the jar down on the ground. He held the glass up to his nose and sniffed it. It was strong, so strong it burned his nose.

"Well bottoms up." She said holding her glass up.

He followed suit and together they took a quick swig.

"Whoo,... Smooth!" She wheezed.

Joel wheezed out a whistle sound and rubbed at his throat with free hand.

"Pretty good right?"

"Mmm humm..." he mumbled as he was taking down another swig.

"Helps take the edge off." She said before he took another swig herself.

They kept sipping for the next two hours, and casually chatted as their buzzes built up. As they progressed they became more relaxed, and laughed more. Their close proximity became more of an asset than awkward. He had his arm behind her, holding the opposite side of the hammock so she didn't fall backwards, and she did the same with the front. Granted she would be fucked if he was the one to take the fall, he would probably take her down with her. The best thing she could probable do for him was make sure he didn't land on the jar.

"So... I think I should not have any more of this." She said taking in a big gulp.

"Yeah I know what you mean..." He said doing the same.

They laughed together at this.

"Okay... " She raised her glass and chugged the last bit down. "Okay... I'm putting my glass down..."

She then attempted to stand to put her glass on the table, but got caught in the hammock and began to fall forward. She was about to take a header when Joel dropped his glass and reached forward to catch her. He caught her around the waist, and landed backward onto the hammock. The hammock swung back so quickly that he didn't have time to avoid banging his head on the deck rail.

"Oww..." He grumbled.

"Sorry. Eh... Shouldn't have done that."

"It's fine. Sorry about the glass."

"Better the glass than my head." She said with a slight laugh.

With her laugh he realized one of his hands was over her chest and the other around her waist.

"Ah. Sorry," he quickly apologized, as he released her and tried to push them up to sit.

"Don't bother..."

"What."

"I don't think I can sit up. Just don't move please..." She pleaded.

"Okay..." He said automatically freezing up.

"I just need to...huh.. umm."

He remained motionless, waiting for her to finish, till he discovered she had passed out.

So there he was. Laying on his back with June passed out on top of him. Granted there was enough space for the two of them, and she was not all that heavy. But still... This was defiantly not something he planned for. He thought for a second about taking her to her room. But judging from how much his head was spinning, that probably was a terrible idea, especially considering the two rope bridges he had to cross. He decided that there was nothing to be done. So he gently eased her off him, and pulled himself up. He grasped hard on the railing of the deck. His vision was blurry and everything he tried to focus on spun. Feeling an urgency to end the spinning he lowered himself down onto the ground and laid flat out on his back. He cupped his hands over his eyes.

"Uhh. Too old to drink like this." He grumbled.

He then rolled to his side, using his arm as a pillow, and fell into a deep sleep.


	7. Chapter 7

It was the late morning sunlight breaking through the canopy that roused him. The light burned his eyes, and made his head ache.

"Eh..." He grumbled.

He slowly rubbed at his crusted eyes and looked up. A flock of birds were flying overhead high up in the sky, and the pine needles above were being jostled by the light breeze. Taking in a big breath he felt a strange pressure of in his left side. He craned his neck down and found a chunk of his broken glass, sharp side dug into the wood plank. He pulled himself up, brushing off the rest of the glass shards that did not fall through the planks. He scooted backward and leaned on the railing. His head was ringing, and his eyes burned. As he closed his eyes he began to remember the previous evening. He looked up through squinted eyes at the hammock. June was still asleep. She was laying mostly on her chest, with her face dug into the bunched up hammock material, and left arm dangling freely in the air.

"Some nurses you two are. " Ellie exhaled from the kitchen doorway.

"Ellie... What the..." Joel blurted out with a groggy tone.

June shook awake to this, and grumbled... " No... I... Eh... What happened?"

"So... Eh... you two have a party or something?" Ellie questioned as she used the doorway and the counter to keep weight of her ankle.

He lunged forward and offered her a hand over to the closest chair.

"How'd you manage to get over here?" He questioned.

"Well, after about two hours of yelling for your help, I decided to go see if you two been killed. So I crawled most of the way, and used walls and tables after that... By the way, you think it's bad walking across those rope bridges... try dragging yourself across them."

"Ellie... I'm..."

"No, no... It's cool. You two needed a break. Besides I needed to move." Ellie said waving him off.

She then reached over to the mostly empty mason jar on the table.

"What's this?" Ellie questioned as she opened the jar.

"Ellie don't!"

"Whew! Dam! What's this shit? She said taking in a whiff.

"Something you're not going to try any time soon." Joel said taking the jar from her and twisting it shut.

Ellie pouted at him as he walked into the kitchen.

"Oh my god I'd kill for a coffee." June sighed covering her eyes.

"Water will have to do..." Joel remarked as he handed her a canteen.

"Eh... Whatever." She conceded.

"So how was it?" Ellie eagerly questioned.

"Stay in school and don't do drugs girl." June recited as she nursed the canteen.

"Heh... So... umm... You want me to make myself something to eat... or uh...?

"I'll get it. You stay there." Joel said as headed back to the kitchen.

"Thank you Joel!" Ellie exclaimed in a cheesy manner.

June grumbled at this and scrunched up.

"What? aren't you hungry too?" Ellie asked, full well knowing that it was her loud voice that made June suffer.

"Blah... Uhhh" June got out seconds before she sprang up and quickly lunged over the guard rail and began to puke.

"Guess not..." Ellie said out loud to herself, turning her attention back to Joel.

Joel came out with some fruit for Ellie, and a bag of old crushed up saltines for June. He helped her back to her spot on the hammock and handed her the crackers.

"I miss having bread." June pouted.

He shrugged at this and returned to the table.

"So you think we can start talking about the plan?" Ellie questioned as she tossed a berry in the air and caught it in her mouth.

Joel shook his head at her. It was not a good time for this. Not just because of their current condition. But, because of the timing. After last night's 'binder celebration,' this was the last thing June needed.

"Not right now Ellie." Joel coaxed.

"Why the hell not. It's been a month and nothing been said."

Joel looked over to June. The color in her face was slowly draining out, and her eyes were trained on her canteen. He could tell she was trying to mentally escape.

"Come on. Joel. June can't we..."

"Ellie!" Joel cut in.

June slowly stood, and left through the kitchen.

"What's her problem?"

"Knock it off." Joel said squeezing her shoulder, before he followed June into the Kitchen.

Once inside he saw her making her way to the main platform.

"June! Look..."

"It's fine Joel... Let me... Heh... Let me just get some proper rest. We can talk about it tonight."

"Alright then."

She continued her wobbly pace back to her room, with her bag of saltines under her arm, and her other hand shielding her eyes from the sun.

Joel returned to the deck, and sat across from Ellie.

"So... Ummm... What the hell was that about?"

"Ellie!"

"Oh. Come on Joel. Why can't you tell me."

He shook his head and looked toward the June's room. He waited till he saw her close her bedroom door till he began.

"Look. Today is a bad day to start this. Just give her time."

"Today... What's the big deal. It's not my fault you two geezers drank yourself sick!"

"No... It's... Just let it go today..."

Ellie exhaled out a frustrated breath, and turned away from him. As she did this she spotted the empty wine bottle on the counter. Reading the date she immediately realized its significance.

"Oh man... Shit. Is this about Rene? Shit. Is it that day?"

"Huh... Wait how'd you know..."

Ellie shook her head at him.

"Her journal... Duh!... Eh... Fuck... I'm sorry Joel..."

"Don't apologize to me girl." He said as he started to finish off her bowl of fruit.

"Hey... Don't eat it all!"

He then took the last handful of berries and tossed them in his mouth.

"Hey!"

"You need to start moving anyway...Right?" He said pushing the empty bowl to her.

"Dammit!" She exclaimed as she looked over her shoulder toward the kitchen. "Well fine, I got this... I am going to make myself the biggest breakfast ever... So big... So big you two will have to go forage for dinner!"

"Whatever you say girl..." Joel mumbled as he walked over to the hammock to take a nap.

Across from the kitchen June was laying on her bed holding a small tattered black velvet box. It was so old its hinge was cracked, making it open as she turned it round. The box had a small metal strip shoved in it with strange marking on its side. Looking at it she began to remember that day...

****Flashback******

"Rene! Rene! Did you make sure to put out the new dip I got?... You know the onion dip."

"You mean the one with the weird blue tape and scribble on it?"

"What! No! God no! That's..." She stopped suddenly, seeing Rene's face she knew he was kidding.

"You need to not do that!"

Rene came up to June and hugged her tight, then whispered in her ear, "just relax. Everything is all set and ready, it's just our friends and family coming tonight."

"How can I relax when my parents are supposed to be here?"

Rene released her from his embrace and looked her in the eyes.

"Everything will be fine. Just focus on enjoying our engagement party okay?" He then kissed her on the forehead.

"Okay... but you did put out the newest dip right? Because there were two in the fridge... and I'm pretty sure Eddy was doing an experiment on the one that was open and it..."

Rene shook his head and ran his fingers through his hair. The color in his face drained a little.

"What?" June questioned.

"Oh. Well you better swap out the dips. I'm going to have to talk to Eddy first thing tomorrow. That's if I don't get sick from whatever he was working on."

"Oh... Umm..."

Before June could finish guests started to arrive. One by one people filled the Labs brand new dining hall. Friends, colleagues, and family greeted the engaged couple. June tried to keep her greetings brief as she inched closer and closer to the potentially dangerous dip. Finding herself finally free from a 'Aunt Helen;' someone she was frankly unsure she or Rene was related to, she quickly darted over to the buffet table and grabbed the dip. Fortunately it looked untouched. "I'm going to kill you Eddy," she grumbled under her breath. She then snuck into the kitchen through the big metal swinging doors. As soon as she was inside she tripped on a pile of tiles.

"Dammit. Shit!" She exclaimed, after she hit the ground hard.

The kitchen was still under construction. They were expanding all over the lab, and seeing as they were finally done with their last project, they were able to venture into bigger projects and more staff. So they needed the facilities to support them. The kitchen lights were mostly off, only the emergency exit lights and a few lights over the ranges were lit. She pulled herself up and walked over to the range. Looking down at her leg she noticed she had snagged her hose with her heel when she fell.

"Awe Man..."

She quickly tugged up at her stocking, which only made it worse.

"Guess these will have to go."

She stood up and walked over to the back room. Once inside she walked over to the side of the industrial fridge and pulled off her hose from under her dress. She then tossed them out, along with the nasty old dip container. Smoothing out her dress and examined it for any bit of damage.

"No damage... I guess..."

Before she could finish she could hear a rise in voices coming from the dining hall.

"Huh... I wonder what's..."

Now gunshots and screams could be rang out. She could hear people running, yelling for help, and tables being thrown. June backed into the corner of the room. She didn't know what to do.

"What's going on? What do I do... What..." She said through hyperventilated breaths of terror, as she kept pushing herself further back into the corner.

Most of the screaming stopped, which she was not sure was a good thing. She had to know what was going on. Maybe it was a prank. Rene knew she hated pranks, and would often pull them on her. But, this was too much. She got onto all fours, just to keep out of sight. She crawled slowly through the back storage, and into the kitchen. She weaved through the prep counters, and all the way to the main doors. As she approached the doors she could hear a mixture of wailing people in pain, and footsteps through broken glass.

"No! Wait!" Cried out Rene.

At the sound of his voice she cautiously pushed the door open slightly, and looked through. There she took in a horrifying sight. Bodies were strewn all about the room. Some had fallen where they stood, others looked to have dragged themselves slightly seconds before their heads were blown off. June felt as though she was going into shock. She covered her mouth and bit at her palm in order to keep her from crying out.

"Please!" Rene pleaded again.

June quickly scanned the room through the crack of the door desperately trying to find him. And then she found him. Close to the main entrance Rene was on his knees in front of a soldier dressed in all black, with a visor covering his face.

"Please! There all dead! Why?" Rene yelled.

The soldier did not respond. All he did was keep his gun pointed at Rene.

"Right. Area clean. What's the next order sir?" The soldier said, still keeping his gun trained on Rene.

The soldier must have been receiving a message through his com in his helmet.

"What.. What's this about? Answer me!" Rene said in an angry tone.

"Right sir. Cleaning up the last target."

"What...You..?"

Seconds after the soldier received his last message he pulled the trigger and shot Rene through the chest.

June bit hard into her palm, with this. All she wanted to do was run to Rene, but she knew it would mean her death. She could taste a mixture of blood and tears in her mouth. Yet despite the tears she did not blink for a second. She watched as another soldier came into the hall.

"What's the order sir?"

"Search the rest of the facility for survivors, I will head to the back lot to retrieve the data."

"Yes sir."

Seeing the soldier approach she quickly pulled herself up and dashed to the oven range. Knowing it still was not hooked in she quickly pulled it away from the wall and slipped into the back ventilation shaft, pulling it back into place. She scrunched down and bunched up her sweater over her face to muffle her exhausted breaths.

The soldier entered the room, and attempted to turn on the main light.

"What the fuck.. What's with this place..." She heard him say to himself.

She followed his heavy steps through the kitchen and into the back storage. She then heard another person enter.

"Hey Wayland!"

"Yeah?"

"Captain ordered us to clear the facility."

"Okay? But what about the search?"

"You've seen this place? There is no one here." The other soldier said as he kicked at the pile of tiles. "We're just going to burn down the facility as is."

"Alright, let's go then." Wayland said casually as he passed by June.

Seconds after they left June pulled herself up in the cramped space. She had to get out of there fast. If they were going to burn the place down she had to get out, or at least away from the gas lines she was sitting on. She knew she couldn't go out the way she came so she decided to follow the vent down the length of the wall and through the maintenance hatch. Finding the hatch she pulled it open and found a ladder leading down. She tossed her heels aside and quickly made her way down the ladder. Once in the next room she darted to the door and locked it. Leaning against the door she could hear heavy footsteps of several people passing by.

"One more level." She whispered to herself.

She dashed across the room and opened another hatch and went down the ladder. This ladder went through several levels, to a small water treatment facility below. Cautiously she waited at the ceiling level. She wanted to make sure the area was clear. As she did this she felt something land on her arm. Looking up she saw small flecks of ash raining down the hatch toward her.

"Shit! I gotta get out of here."

She then slowly lowered herself down to the service stairway. Finding the space vacant she dashed down the stairs and slipped through the back door and into the woods.

By dawn the soldiers had left. June watched from a distant bluff as the facility went up in flames. She was in absolute shock. The entire event seemed unreal to her. Not only had she lost everyone she ever loved, but it seemed as though no one was going to do anything about it. The facility was rather remote, but from the size of the billowing smoke she figured the fire department would have come by now. She stood there silently watching the building burn down the entire day and into the late night. By midnight most of the structure collapsed, and the fire had run out of fuel. June slowly made her way back to the facility. She was not sure why. She told herself it was to see if anyone survived. But, she knew that was impossible.

It was a new moon that night, but the glowing embers on the remains of the walls and ceiling lit the way. Eventually she found herself back in the dining hall. Most of the bodies were gone, now just dark stains burnt into the floor. She looked to the place Rene was and found that the ceiling had collapsed there. She knelt down and looked for his body. All she could find was part of his jacket. She pulled hard at it, trying to free it from the debris. Eventually it tore and she fell backward onto the ground. She did not move for a second, she just laid there, holding the wadded up material in her arms. She laid there, on her side, in the fetal position, with her eyes fixed on where she last saw Rene.

She stayed there, not sleeping, and not moving for two days. By the time she mustered up the strength to move the embers had gone out. An early fall rainstorm came in the day before and put out the rest of the fire. Her clothing held snug on her body from getting wet, and chills ran up her spine. She pulled herself up to sit. Looking around she could see nothing had changed. No emergency team ever came. She was all alone. In her hands she still held part of Rene's jacket. As she squeezed it she noticed something hard inside it. She reached into the pocket and pulled out a black velvet jewelry box. Tossing the jacket aside she opened the box. Inside she expected to find her wedding ring. She knew he was going to present it to her at their party in front of everyone. But to her dismay she only found a security key chip. Pulling out the chip she examined it. It had tiny intricate grooves all along its sides. Placing it on her palm she flipped it over. When she did this she noticed a strange marking that did not match. A blue arrow, the very same blue arrow Rene would often write on notes pointing to important points or errors, more importantly the same blue arrow he used marking trails during their last vacation. At that moment she knew this was a sign that she needed to head back to their secret vacation home in the trees. Rene mentioned that he had always kept backup data at a secret hub off site. This could be her chance to make things right.

*********END FLASHBACK***************

Pulling out the key chip she looked at it in the light.

"How am I supposed to go back to that place?"

Her thoughts were interrupted by laughter from the deck. She sat up and looked through her window. She saw Ellie and Joel together at the table, fighting over a big bowl of food. She saw Ellie grab a handful of berries and shove them in Joel's face. Which resulted in him reaching over the table and mashing berries in her hair, with a noogie follow through. June smiled at this and rubbed away her tears. Taking in a big breath she returned the chip to the case and closed it.

"Alright... It's time to move on." She said pulling herself up.


	8. Chapter 8

The sun was setting as the three of them sat at the table. They were just finishing dinner. June and Joel made a quick trip down to the river and caught some fish.

"So what's the deal? Why do you think I'm immune? Ellie asked as she pushed her food around on her plate.

Ellie never was a fan of fish, but certainly was not going to waste her meal. So she paced herself, taking small bites, and holding back the urge to gag.

"Well if I had access to the right facilities I could answer that for ya. But seeing as we are out in the middle of the woods..." June emphasized the end of her comment by pointing with her fork in all direction in reference to everything around them.

"Yeah. Yeah. Duh! I know. But... Don't you have some idea?"

June dropped her fork on her empty plate, pushed it forward, leaned back in her chair, and cleared her throat.

"Sure, I have a million ideas... Let's see it could be a manner of your blood seeing as the original stain was based on a BBV virus... However, it could be related to the possibility of you having the CCR5-delta 32 gene... Or... it could all be up to the runner that bit you... Maybe that particular runner was mutated then the mutation met with your mutations and..." June stopped her tangent when she noticed Ellie's and Joe's blank stares. "Well... you asked..."

"B.B.V?" Ellie spelled out loud.

"Blood Born Virus, stuff like Hepatitis and HIV."

"What? Your saying I have something like that!"

"Well... Something like it... Okay...To put it simply the virus was designed to bombard the immune system fast and... Well... actually its intention was a mystery to me personally. But it was through my research after hell broke loose I was able to realize what was happening."

"Now wait... if it's a blood based virus how do you explain the spores?"

"Remember Joel, it came from a biological weapon. It was the infected people, animals, and plants that caused this crazy shit we see today to form.

"And... dare I ask what you found?" Joel questioned hesitantly.

"Well... To put it simply it seems to rewrite a specific genetic sequences... And literally forces mutations to form at rapid rates... And... well... That's all I got."

"Alright." Joel said with a nod.

That answer was far less painful than he thought it would be.

"So... In order to do research... Do you have to cut me open and dissect me?"

"No... Heh.. No, that is the last thing I would need to do." June said as she reached over and patted Ellie on the shoulder. "That was some stupid ass shit they were trying there. I may have not put it in my journal, but I trailed the fireflies for some time. And well... They picked the most primitive and gruesome way, and caused more harm than good. No Ellie... I need my specimen live in order to do anything productive."

Ellie didn't appreciate herself referred to as a 'specimen,' but it did make her feel better that she didn't need to be cut open.

"But..." June began as she stood up from the table collecting the plates, "Seeing as we will need to take a cross country trip in order to get to my old lab, we should focus on rehabilitating your leg miss. We should also start by teaching you how to swim too."

Ellie rolled her eyes at this. She was exhausted from all the walking she had done that day. And that was just through the kitchen. Joel had to carry her the rest of the way back to clean out the berry mess in her hair. As much as she knew it was going to suck it needed to happen. She could not handle being cooped up any longer.


	9. Chapter 9

Over the next few weeks Ellie slowly got better. She was able to walk and stand on her own now. But she was no shape to run yet.

It was early fall now. Though one could not tell due to the Indian Summer weather. Days were usually spent down on the forest floor. Joel and June would trade off foraging duties and teaching Ellie to swim. Swimming was the easiest exercise Ellie could handle. With all of June's traps scattered about the forest, it was too dangerous for Ellie to move about in her state.

"Just like that Ellie. Good." June called to Ellie, whom was slightly down river.

Her condition still forced to use her arms primarily. Swimming against the current was rough on her ankle, even after the freezing water numbed it.

"Just a little further..." June coaxed reaching her hands forward.

Ellie gritted her teeth as she desperately tried to hold her head up. Paddling with all her might she quickly reached up and grabbed Junes right hand.

"Good. Your getting better with each day. You wanna try swimming under water now?"

"EHHH..." Was all Ellie could get out as she rolled onto her back and let the current carry her.

June gabbed at Ellie's other hand and guided her over to the bank. Ellie looked up at June, she could see that she was talking to her but, with both her ears submerged she could not hear. She just gave her the customary nod in response.

June helped pull her out of the water and walk up the rocky bank.

"So if you're going to help me with cleaning the bee boxes you will need to cover up with mud."

"What? I'm doing what?"

"Weren't you listening?"

Ellie gave her a peevish smile and looked away.

"Heh.. Well just follow close. I needed to get this done anyway, and Joel isn't back yet."

"Alight." Ellie said in a exhausted tone.

June rolled her eyes at Ellie and headed into the forest.

They continued for half mile till they reached a small circle of trees. Fifty feet from them were some crude bee boxes that were surrounded with tall grass and wildflowers.

"Over here." June directed.

They walked over to the side of this clearing to a eroded boulder. On the other side of this there was a small area of where there looked to be water once.

"Its an old dried up vernal pool."

"Vernal pool?" Ellie questioned.

"Eh. Don't they teach kids anything in school anymore?... June sighed as she walked into the center of the dry pool and pick up clods of mud and speared it up her legs. "Whatever, it's just a seasonal body of water. There usually home to frogs, turtles, protozoa, and... "

"Umm... What smells like shit?"

"Oh. Well... It's probably the mud." June said with a shrug not even phased.

"Fuck... Eww. I can't believe you're doing that."

"What? It's better than being stung to death."

Ellie cringed and pinched her nose.

"Really it's not that bad... Here..."

"No! Wait!"

Before Ellie could duck away a mud ball hit her in the face dead center.

"Ahh. Shit. What the hell!" Ellie cried out.

"Ha ha!" June teased.

"Oh it's on!" Ellie threatened as she entered the mud pit and began tossing mud clods as fast as she could.

There yells carried across the forest, and down to the river where Joel was fishing. Hearing this he interpreted it as calls for help, or warning. Leaving his pole on the bank he picked up his pack and dashed up the hillside toward their voices. As he grew closer he slowed his pace, he was not sure if there was danger near. Finding none he grew confused. Looking down to a clearing he could see two figures low on the ground tossing and spinning about.

"What the..." He said to himself.

He crept in close low to the ground, and pushed some tall grass aside.

"Oh I'll win this one girl! Remember I'm 'The Crazy Mud Lady!'" June called out, half laughing.

He cocked his head out of confusion with this statement. Sensing no danger from this, he stood up and walked toward them. Once around the trees he could see for himself the 'emergency' he had a small panic attack over. Ellie was on her knees, mostly covered with mud tossing fat mud clods at a fully saturated with filth June.

"What's going on here?" He yelled out loud over their screams.

The two women stopped what they were doing and looked up at Joel. And then, for a slip second they looked to each other. With a quick nod agreement they both turned to face Joel and loaded their hands full of mud. Joel gave them a confused look, and took a cautious step back.

"Now wait... What are..."

Before he could finish they began to hurl mud at him. He darted off to the side of the muddied area and found shelter behind a boulder.

"Your playing awfully dirty now. Two against one. " He called from around the boulder.

Reaching around the side he picked up a chunk of mud.

"What Joel you afraid! Don't worry we will go easy on ya! Won't we Ellie?"

Ellie giggled at this. She was prepping a big mud ball with Joel's name on it.

Joel took in a quick breath and popped from around the boulder and tossed the mud right into June's shoulder. He then quickly reloaded anther clod and tossed it at the stunned Ellie.

After about five minutes Ellie surrendered, especially after Joel and June joined forces against her. June and Joel hit a stalemate once they found themselves covered from head to toe.

"Okay... Okay... Well, since we all are 'geared' up. You want to help me with the bee boxes? Judging from the weather this will be our last time to stock up on honey."

"How about you two handle that, and I go get the fishing gear I left by the river when I thought you two were in trouble."

"Fine. Fine. Miss out on the fun here." June said sarcastically waving him off.

He pulled himself up, and attempted to squeegee the mud off his legs and arms.

"I'll meet you at the platform."

"Right. This should only take thirty minutes." June said pulling Ellie up.

Heading through the thicket he left a trail of mud behind him. This was sloppy of him, but seeing as there had been no sign of hunters for the last two weeks he was not too worried about it. Besides, he planned to rinse off once he reached the river.

As he reached his abandoned fishing point he found his fishing pole still on the bank where he left it. He picked it up and loaded it into his pack. He then carried in the basket of fish he had weighted down half submerged in the water. He wanted to make sure when he rinsed off none of the muddy water got into the fish. He didn't want them to taste like the nasty filth that was on him. Piling up his goods he turned and walked into the water till he was able to fully submerge. Holding his breath he quickly dunked his head a few times and rubbed at his scruffy hair. He then billowed his shirt and scrubbed down his pants, as he found a purchase on the slick river rocks below. When he found himself mostly clean he quickly waded through the water and found a seat next to the gear. No matter how many times he had been in that water, he could not get used to how cold it was.

He sat there for a good fifteen minutes waiting to dry. As he did this he mused about what just happened. He never would have thought they'd find June. He expected to travel all the way to the coast and end up returning empty handed. But they had found her, and were living with her. She was real, actually willing to help, and on top of that was entertaining them.

Having fun... Now that was something he thought was gone forever. Sure he was able to find some things that amused him. But he was so damned sure that this was going to be a hellish adventure. Looking back at the last two months he realized that he had not laughed this much in his life for years. He was content for the moment, which made him feel uneasy. For the last twenty years he tried so hard to keep his expectations low. But now he found himself too attached. When did he let his guard down? Of course Ellie picked at the layers of his hard demeanor, but the combined forces of June and Ellie crumbled it away leaving him open for attack. This revelation bothered him so much it brought him to stand suddenly. He stood looking into his reflection in the river. His hair was past its usual length, and his beard was starting to get to the point where it was irritating. Running his fingers through his hair he noticed that he had less gray than before. He took in a big breath and shook his head.

"'It's not over yet.'" He thought to himself.

He needed to start preparing himself for what lay ahead. They had to cross the states soon, and that meant going through some heavily infected regions. June talked about where they could find a car.

"I hope she knows what she's talking about." He mused to himself as he gathered up his gear.

Coming up the hill Joel could see Ellie and June in the distance. They had also rinsed off. Ellie gave him a quick smile once she spotted him, but when he looked to June he noticed she was not looking at him, but through him. He then heard a loud crack from behind him and felt a sudden burning pain under his collar bone. Looking down he found a arrow sticking out four inches from his torn shirt. Reaching up in disbelief he grasped the tip of the arrowhead, to make sure it was real. Before he could react he felt another impact on his left thigh, which made him drop to the ground.

The next few seconds were a blur to him. He had gone into shock and his hearing went out. All he could do was watch the chaos around him. He saw June drop her bag and push Ellie out of sight. He could feel the footsteps of his attacker coming in close. He reached into his pack and pulled out his pistol. He knew he was low on ammo, so he had to make the shot count.

"See! I told ya there was someone out here Greg. All those fucking traps must have been set by this bastard." Said the approaching hunter.

Joel rolled as much as he could onto his back to get a clear shot. As he did this he felt the arrows bend and tear at his flesh. The pain was excruciating, so bit his lip to keep quiet.

"Greg?... Whatever man, giving me the silent treatment. You know I was riiiiiggg..."

Joel quickly propped himself up and looked toward where his attacker was. There he found June standing over a collapsed body. She quickly pulled her blade from hunters neck and wiped it clean on the his shirt. She then quickly made her way over to Joel, keeping low to the grass.

"Joel.." She whispered.

He could not say a word the pain was too extreme. He reached behind himself and attempted to break the arrow.

"Don't do that. You'll bleed out all over."

He scowled at her and sighed out of frustration.

"You gotta get up."

June came over to his left side and wrapped his arm over her shoulders.

"I know it hurts like hell, but we gotta get to the lift. There is no way I can carry you, and if I drag you we will leave a trail."

"Where's Ellie?" Joel got out through his gritted teeth.

"She is headed to the lift with the rest of the supplies."

"What!"

"Its fine, I needed her to carry the supplies... She's got her gun and..."

Before June could finish sounds of rustling bushes could be heard behind them.

"Shit!" They said in unison.

June picked up her pace. She was mostly pulling Joel at this point. Gun shots rang out and nearly missed them. Then, without warning another hunter rushed them from the side and tackled them. Joel fell to the ground hard causing him to black out, and June bounced off him and hit her head against a tree trunk. The hunter reached down and grabbed June from behind. He pulled her up by her hair, and put a knife to her neck.

"Don't fuckin' move bitch!"

June's color drained from her face. Chills ran down her body starting from the point of the cold blade touching her neck.

"Hey Marcus! Over here! I got em! Turns out this dude had a bitch with him, a pretty hot one too! The men will be happy to have a toy back at the camp again."

The hunter emphasized his last comment by reaching across her chest and grabbing her left breast and pulling her in close to him. He then leaned over to her ear and whispered low, "Of course I will have to have my fun first since I found ya."

June whimpered at this then tried to pull away from him. But he only held her tighter and pushed the dull knife in, which started to cut her flesh. The feeling of ripping flesh burned like hell and caused her to cry out.

"Now, now. Save that pretty voice for later." The man said relieving some pressure from his blade.

Joel woke when he heard June's scream. For a second he thought he was back at the mud pit, but the pain in his chest and leg brought him back to reality. He could hear mumbling from behind him, and June's whimpers. Turning slightly he could see the hunter, holding a knife to June's neck, with his other hand up her shirt. Joel quickly raised his pistol and shot the man in the face. The man's body tensed up all over as it fell to the ground his knife dug into June's neck along the side and tore down her back.

"June! June! You alight?" Screamed Joel.

"Yeah. I'm... I'm fine. Let's just go." June mumbled.

She slowly wobbled toward him, with her arm across her chest holding her wound. Blood was dripping through her fingers and down her torn shirt.

"Awe shit woman, you need to..."

"No, let's just go. Come on."

When she finally reached him she helped pull him up.

"Just put your arm over my wound. I will carry the basket of fish."

"Just leave it."

"No Joel! There is no way in hell we will be able to get food any time soon!"

"Okay."

"Just walk dammit!"

They continued through the forest for another two miles. By the time they were within a hundred yards of the lift most of June's blood had dried up and no longer left a trail. Ellie was waiting next to the lift. She had her gun out and was scanning the area. Turning round she spotted them and rushed in to help.

"Joel! June! Oh shit! What happened?"

"Just help me carry him." June said not looking up.

Ellie ducked down and positioned herself on the other side of Joel. Together they got onto the lift. With every last bit of her strength June pulled at the rope pulley till they reached the landing. The second Ellie locked it into the main platform position June passed out.


	10. Chapter 10

"June! June! You can't sleep! Get up!"

Joel screamed as he pulled himself over to June.

"What do we do Joel?"

He slid on his side, desperately avoiding banging the arrows into the plank landing.

"You better not be dead woman!"

He threatened as he pulled her toward him and laid her flat on her back. The dried blood and dirt all over her face highly emphasized her loss of color. He reached for her neck and searched for a pulse. Finding none he lunged over her and listened to her chest.

"Shit!" He exclaimed.

He then pulled himself up to his knees and started to give her CPR.

"Joel! What? What should I..."

"Twenty-seven... Twenty-eight... Twenty-nine... Thirty!"

Joel then pushed June's head back, pinched her nose, and gave her a big puff of air. He then went for another two rounds with no results.

"Joel what's..."

"Quiet girl!" Joel snapped as he checked for a pulse.

Still finding none he became more frustrated and furiously continued on with compression's.

"Fifteen... Sixteen... Seventeen... Dammit...Woman...Live...Twenty-one..."

June then gasped and thrashed forward breaking Joel's pace.

"Oh fuck!" Ellie exclaimed.

"Get some water and alcohol girl!"

"On it!" Ellie said limping as fast as she could toward the kitchen.

Joel rolled June onto her side facing him and lightly padded her on the back.

"What just happened?" June said in a low breathy tone with glazed shifty eyes.

"We made it."

"Oh. Well that's good." She said attempting to roll onto her back.

"No... Just stay as you are."

"Fine..." She mumbled.

They sat there for a few seconds, with their heavy breaths of exhaustion blocking out the sounds of the forest below.

"How you feel?" Joel asked as he lifted her chin up a little to look at her wound.

"Eh. Like I died."

Joel began to rub her back in circle motions. As he did this he hit the rough patch where the hunter's knife cut her.

"Ow! Shit!"

"Sorry!"

"No.. Check it out... How bad is it?"

Joel cautiously pulled her toward him. Carefully he dislodged her torn shirt from a lump of crusted blood, and let it fall over her shoulder. Rolling her shoulder down he discovered a long gash over her scapula ,across her spine, and down to her lower back.

"I've seen worse."

"Heh. Was that person still alive?"

Joel didn't answer her.

"Here! Got it!" Ellie called as she came over to them.

"Okay... Here... Pull her up."

Ellie put down the pitcher and basin, and helped pull June up to sit. June shook all over and her arms began to spasm.

"Joel... What...?" Ellie said trying to hold June still.

"Here, lean her against me."

Ellie slowly lowered June face first from a seated position, onto his arrow free shoulder. June bounced about till she finally settled partially on her side, with her head resting on his shoulder. He braced his arms behind himself to help support their combined weight.

"Okay, just clean her up girl."

"What happened down there? Are they all dead?"

"Hunters. Don't know how many more there are." Joel mumbled.

As soon as the wet cloth touched the wound, June's limp arms sprang to life and grasped at Joel middle back.

"Sorry. Eh..." Ellie whimpered as she pulled the cloth away.

"It's okay. Just keep going." Joel coaxed.

The pain got worse for June. She gripped so tight at some instances Joel had a hard time breathing. Eventually Joel shifted their weight to his right arm, and used his left hand to support her head. His palm rested over her temple, and pushed her cheek closer to his neck. He felt her hot tears run down his back, and felt her teeth occasionally nick his shirt when she gasped in pain.

Eventually June's endorphin's kicked in, and she began to relax. Joel noticed this and, worried she had passed out, so shook her slightly.

"I'm awake. Don't worry." June said as she lightly pinched at his lower back.

"Almost done, you've mostly stopped bleeding." Ellie said while she rinsed the blood soaked towel.

"Good." June sighed leaning more into Joel's stubble, as Ellie began on her neck wound.

"You think you're up to mending me?" Joel questioned, trying to keep June alert.

"Yeah. But, I'll need a few things. Plus something with sugar. I can really feel how much blood I lost right now."

"Okay done! So you want bandages for this?"

"No it should air out for a bit." June said as she slowly pushed herself up and away from Joel.

Joel slowly released his grasp from June, yet stayed put. She was still on the shaky side and wanted to be ready to catch her.

June slowly pushed back more and sat on her own. Her shirt fell around her waist. All she had left to cover up her top half with was her now one strapped sports bra. She held her hand up to her forehead, then ran her fingers through her hair. Taking in a big breath she cleared her throat and said,"okay...Ellie, I need you to get the med kit from under my bed, some towels, clean water and rags from the kitchen, and a box of matches."

Ellie quickly got up and followed her order.

June then scooted toward him and carefully examined his wounds.

"So how do you want to do this?"

"Eh?"

"You want me to try and save your clothes?"

"Can't you just work around them?"

June took in a big breath and gently picked at the blood and mud soaked fabric on his back.

"Well, if you wanna get a nasty infection then you can leave them on. But I think it's best for you to strip." She said as she lightly tugged at one of the long splinters that broke away from the arrow shaft and laced itself with part of his shirt under his skin.

"Oww. Shit! If you insist."

"Don't worry. I'll do a minimal damage to your clothes. You're going to need lots of layers with the upcoming winter."

"Your the doc."

"Okay, I think I got everything." Ellie said carrying over a heap of items.

June grabbed the med kit and pulled out a small saw.

"Oh fuck! Do I have to be here for this?" Ellie exclaimed.

June looked to Joel for his opinion, as she took a quick sip from the bottle of juice Ellie brought. Joel knew this was not going to be pretty, and on top of that June would be stripping him down. So it probably be for the best to not have Ellie witness this.

"Why don't you take the supplies to the kitchen."

"Okay." Ellie quickly responded to Joel with a breath of relief.

June took a rag and soaked it with water and alcohol, and wiped down her hands.

"So... Let me just go through my plan of attack. First I will saw off the tips, then you'll help me pull them out. Then... You strip... And... I sew you up."

"Eh... Just get it over with. I just want to lay on my back again." Joel said with a slight gag as he accidentally bumped the arrow in his chest with this forearm.

June dug through her bag and pulled out a wooden kitchen spoon.

"Here, bite down on this."

"What kind of kit is that?"

"The professional kind." She said holding up her bone saw.

He did as he was told and braced himself for pain.

It took her a good five minutes to cut through the arrows.

"Okay, all done." June said as the last arrowhead fell to the ground. "Now the worst part."

Joel was in so much pain as is and his throat was drying from his brief yell's of agony. He could not imagine it getting worse.

"Alright," June began, now on her knees behind Joel. "This one is slightly damaged, so I will have to grip it close to the wound in order to get it all out without breaking."

Joel nodded, and took in a breath in preparation for this.

"Okay... On three. One... Two... Three!"

"Ahhhhhhh Fuuuuck."

She pulled hard in a quick movement, getting the entire arrow shaft out without breaking. This was immediately followed by a gush of blood, and Joel falling forward. She dropped the arrow and quickly covered his wound from both sides.

"How you doing. That must of hurt like hell."

"Heh. Yeah... It did!"

"Alright, let me just..." She then tore the last chunk of her shirt holding it together, and used half of it to wrap over his wound. "This will do for now. Let's get that other arrow out."

"Okay." He said through labored breaths as he pulled himself up on his knees.

"Ready... One... Two... Three!"

"Ahhh. Fuahhh!"

She tossed the arrow aside and picked up the other piece of her shirt and tied it tight around his thigh.

"Okay were in the final stretch, you can put your leg down flat at least now."

June scooted in close and started to unbutton his shirt. Every other button hole was practically glued in place with mud and blood. Eventually she had to use her nails to force them through. Once she got the last one she slowly peeled the shirt away from his wound. Her loose bandage fell to the floor with it.

She pulled the water basin over and soaked a fresh rag with alcohol. She then softly padded the cloth to the wound. The Alcohol burned like hell and caused him to reach forward and grasp her thigh. Despite this she continued with the cleaning, so he took it as a sign that this didn't hurt her. Once she was done she reached into her bag and pulled out surgical suture and a curved needle. She quickly doused her hands in alcohol again, dried them, then lit a match and sterilized the needle.

"Ready for this."

Joel turned his head away and closed his eyes in response.

In less than five minutes she had both sides stitched up and covered with clean gauze. She then laid a towel out behind him.

"Okay, you can lay down now."

Joel didn't need to be told twice. It felt a little better now that he could relax his back muscles.

"So now the fun part..." She said in attempt to making the situation less awkward.

He did not respond to her comment. He felt that even if he tried to say something funny it would not make this any easier.

She slowly unbuckled his belt and undid his button.

"Oh... Um."

"What? Something wrong?"

"No Boxers?"

"Huh? Oh. Yeah... No... Kind of a luxury item for men nowadays."

"Right... Well... Think of this as making up for all the embarrassing shit you read about me in my journal." She said as she pulled off his boots and socks.

"Oh we're even after this, that's for sure." He said turning his face away, trying to mentally escape from this moment.

"Okay, let's do this before you bleed to death." She untied her quick bandage, unzipped his pants, and tugged his jeans down and off. She quickly retrieved a towel from behind herself to cover him up.

Getting the bowl she began to clean the area. Once she was done cleaning, he noticed a quizzical look on her brow.

"What? What is it?"

"How's your leg feel, mainly the bone itself?" She said as she cupped her hands round his thigh and rotated his leg up and down slowly.

" Sore as hell." He said through gritted teeth.

"Okay... Well I think it's just bruising, but there could be a slight fracture in the bone."

"Great..."

She quickly got her needle and suture ready.

"So I'll try to make this as quick as possible."

He reached over for the wooden spoon, bit down on it, and draped his hand over his eyes.

The second the needle pierced his skin he squirmed. This area on his thigh was very sensitive, and all he wanted to do was squirm away each time the cold needle touched. But he had to remain still. For June's sake, and to keep the towel covering him up. The top side of his thigh was unbearable, but the back was far worse.

"There last stitch. Now just need to bandage up."

She carefully wrapped the gauze around this thigh and pulled the towel to cover him evenly up.

"So how you feel now?"

Joel did not answer. He was starting to nod off.

"Oh no you don't."

"Eh. Can't I sleep now."

"No. Not here at least."

"Well help me to my hammock.

"Oh no, you need to sleep flat. You can have my bed."

He wasn't going to argue with her. He was willing to do whatever she said if it meant he could sleep.

"But hey, before I put this all away. You think you could bandage me up?" She said turning and presenting her back to him.

With major effort he pulled himself up and wrapped the towel tight around his hips. He cleaned his hands and pulled out some swabs and ointment, and began to dab the solution onto her wounds.

"Eh. Shit! You doing that on purpose?"

Joel furrowed his brow, breaking his best poker face. Yes, in a way this was payback for what he just went through, he just was not going to admit it out loud. He eventually eased up. By the time he reached her neck he had the lightest touch that even his calloused hands didn't nick her.

"Much better. Now let's get you up an in bed. Ellie has been awfully quiet. She probably broke something again. I'll have to check up on her." She said pulling herself up and uselessly dusting off her filthy pants.

She then offered him a hand saying, "just try to keep weight off your left leg."

"Alright." Joel said through his teeth as a sharp pain went up his leg when he tested his bad leg.

Together they walked to her room. It was a truly pathetic scene. Both black and blue, bandaged up, and moving at a snail's pace.

"Get the handle." June said as they reached the door.

Joel was becoming so drowsy that it was dangerous. They had nearly fell off the rope bridge twice. Once inside June leaned him against her dresser like a rolled up rug, and readied the bed for him.

"Okay, easy now." She reached round for him and attempted to lower him into the bed.

At his current state he had little care for propriety, and gave little attention to the fact his towel had fallen off when he took a quick step toward the bed. All he wanted was to sleep.

"Alright. Phew." She exclaimed as she covered him up with a heavy blanket. "You can sleep now," she continued full well knowing he had passed out.

Immediately her body became heavy and her head began to spin. She pulled up a chair and sat down. To help stop the spinning she planted her forehead on the edge of the bed with her hands bracing it down into the soft quilt. Within seconds she blacked out.


	11. Chapter 11

Joel was roused from his sleep by a shake of the bed. Opening his eyes he discovered it was dark. Looking to the window he could see slight glints of stars through the blowing tree limbs. To his left he found a tray of food and water left on the bed stand that Ellie must have dropped off earlier. Feeling the bed shake again he looked for the source. At the edge of the bed he found June, face down, and just a few inches from falling off. Her bandages were mostly soaked through with blood and sweat was dripping down the back of her neck.

"Shit!" He said as he reached over to her.

He dug his hand down and cupped her forehead.

"She's burning up."

At this movement she came to and started to breath labored breaths.

"You got a fever."

"Eh. No. Just let me sleep." She said in a muffled tone through the quilt.

"No... Here, come on..." He said pulling at her arm, leading her to lay more on the bed. "You need to keep warm."

He scooted as close as he could to the opposite side of the bed,lifted the sheets for her, and guided her onto the bed. She shook all over, and fought her joints which wanted to stay bent and close into her body.

"Sooo... cold..."

"Yeah that's no good." Joel whispered mostly to himself, as he eased her down on her chest next to him.

June's body still shook despite being covered up. Joel slowly scooted closer to her and slid his left arm under and around her, pulling her close to his body. His body heat seemed to help, because after a few minutes her muscles eased and she fell into a deep sleep. Her relaxed breaths eased the tension in the room, and lulled him into a deep sleep.

By afternoon the next day Joel woke up to the sound of a door closing. Looking up he saw through blurred eyes Ellie heading away with a empty food tray. The sun shined bright on the empty glass water jug she was carrying, and made his eyes squint.

"She's a good kid you know." June said breaking the silence.

Joel jumped at this. looking over to his left shoulder and found June, sitting up against the headboard on top of the covers nursing a bowl of soup.

"How you feeling?" She said putting down her bowl on the bed stand and reaching over with a slight strain in movement toward him to check his bandage on his chest.

Joel rubbed his eyes, and slightly shook his head to clear his vision.

"How long have I been out?"

"Three days." She said as she peeked under his dressings.

"What!"

"Yeah... I only just woke up this morning."

"Oh."

"You think you can sit up? I need to change your bandages."

He shifted his weight slightly, just to assess if he could in fact move. His body ached all over, but he was in far better shape than a few days ago.

"Need some help?" She said offering him a hand.

"Naw, let me give it a try." He said in his usual gruff tone.

He slowly pulled himself up and scooted back toward the headboard.

June pulled out her med kit and scooted in close to him. As she leaned in he could see the bruised skin surrounding the wound on her neck. Just by the look of it he could tell it was painful.

"How you feeling?" He questioned.

June cracked a slight smile at this, and chuckled a little.

"Well honestly, when I first came to, I thought I was back in college. Seeing as my head hurt like hell and there was a naked man in my bed."

"Had some pretty crazy college days huh?"

"Heh. Oh yeah. Some pretty wild D&D sessions after cramming for Bio Chem." She said rolling her eyes. "No it was the fact that I woke up with a attractive 'man' in my bed instead of a skinny lab dweeb that I remembered what all happened."

They both chuckled at this together.

Looking down he watched her as she carefully taped down fresh gauze. She had such a light touch that he could barely tell what she was doing.

"So what about you?"

"What?"

"Crazy college days?"

"Yeah no."

"Oh...?"

"Yeah. I had a newborn daughter, and widowed by Seventeen. No time to party. "

June paused her work with his answer. She had heard Ellie talk about Sarah, but she never was filled in the full back story.

"That must have been rough," She finally got out.

Joel gave her a brief nod.

She then shifted her attention to his leg. She lifted the sheet, not hesitating for a moment for permission, and began to unwrap his bandage. He didn't put up any protest or even gave it any attention. She had already seen it all, and seeing as the only other person who could do this was Ellie, he was perfectly fine with this.

"I always wanted a kid." She casually began pulling up his old bandage. "During my masters I got this unbelievable urge to have a kid. I tried everything, even expensive IVF treatments. But nothing worked... I was glad to find out Rene already had kids with his previous marriage. In most other relationships learning that the chick can't have kids is a real deal breaker."

Once done she recovered him with the blanket and put away her med kit. She then sat back onto the bed, and leaned against the headboard next to Joe with her soup in hand.

"You know... Till you two showed up I swore it was my fate to be alone... I mean... I couldn't have kids, then every person I cared about was killed, and any person I met after wanted to either kill, rape, or even eat me. So... despite these injuries, or the future ones, I just want you to know I'm grateful." She then cut him off from saying a word in return by raising up a spoon full of soup in an attempt to feed him. "Here you should eat something."

He reached and grabbed the spoon with his hand, and took the offered bowl.

"Joel! You're up!" Yelled Ellie as soon as she opened the door.

To this sudden outburst Joel nearly spilled the soup. Fortunately June jumped in and supported it from the bottom around his hand.

"Shit it's cold out there! Is it usually this cold here?" Ellie said pulling up a chair close to where June was.

"Well it's about mid November now. So the weather is about right." June said leaning back on the headboard.

"I miss the Indian Summer weather." Ellie pouted as rubbed her cold hands furiously.

June reached forward and cupped her hands around Ellie's and leaned in to blow warm air in. "Better?" She questioned as she started to massage Ellie's hands.

"Yes." Ellie said with a slight hum of approval.

"Well, I'm going to check on the supplies. Ellie you make sure Joel eats all his soup."

June then lifted herself up off the bed, grabbed her jacket, and left the room.

"So how's my soup?" Ellie said as soon as June was out of earshot.

"Still too salty." Joel casually said finishing off the bowl.

"Awe man... Wait... June said it was good."

"That's because June is nice."

"Awe you think so too? I like her a lot. She gave me some sweet old comic books that were Rene's."

Joel shook his head. Ellie had tricked him into giving his opinion. She was almost a master of getting information out of him this way.

"You know," She said leaning forward with her elbows on the bed, "This isn't that bad. It's too bad we have to leave soon."

"Um-Hum."

"So earlier..." Ellie quickly turned round and pulled a photo album out from the book shelf and plopped it onto the bed. "June was showing me pictures from when she was younger. Check these out."

Ellie then flipped through the first few pages and stopped when she reached a page of people at an amusement park. "I sooooo want to go to one of these places! And this!" She turned the page quickly. "Did chicks really wear stuff like this?" She said pointing to a picture of June in a tiny bikini on the beach.

"Um..." Joel sounded, as he looked down at the photo.

June had to be in her early twenties in this shot. She had long hair, and the same smile on her face she had earlier when she confessed her waking delusion.

"Dam she was hot back then. I wonder why she had such a hard time getting a guy?" Ellie mused as she leafed through the thick album pages.

Joel wasn't going to tell Ellie why. He didn't think June would want Ellie to know, and besides, it was yet another unfair thing that she would learn about the world they lived in.

From behind them walked in June.

"Ellie dear..." June began in a mother-like manner. "Where on earth did you learn to cook?"

"Why?" Ellie asked in a coy manner, thinking she may get a compliment.

"Because you have left the biggest mess all over the kitchen. Go clean that up... And here.. Take this with you." She finished handing her Joel's empty bowl.

"Fine..." Ellie sighed as she left the room.

"Now as for you.. I need to change those sheets. I got your clothes. Ellie patched them up when we were out."

Joel sat back and just stared at what was happening before him.

"Hey you listening to me? Um... I guess if you prefer being nude you don't have to wear them?"

"No. I... Appreciate it." He finally got out.

"Okay." She said with a confused look as she handed him the clothing pile.

She took her album off the edge of the bed and returned it to the shelf and walked to the corner of the room, with her back to him giving him privacy.

As Joel dressed a flurry of thoughts and questions filled his mind. Two of which stood out from the rest. One being when was it that he allowed two women to boss him around? And second how was it that June got Ellie to do as she said so easily?


	12. Chapter 12

A week passed by quickly. The three of them slowly regained their health and were prepping for their trip. A new development formed beneath them in the forest. Teams of hunters would pass though regularly. Many of them tripped June's traps, but when she found a dead body floating in the first chamber of the caves things became serious. Fortunately they had yet to pass through the central point directly under the main lift. Which was good, because for one it was the one part of the tree house that was visible from the forest floor, and also it meant they still had their horses.

It was just a little past dawn. Joel woke suddenly from a nightmare. His hands were still in the gripped position they were with the clicker that was attacking him in the dream. Relaxing his arms he pulled himself up to sit. He was on the floor in June's room. The temperature had dropped significantly in the past week. To conserve energy they took to all sleeping in June's room. Ellie and June had the bed, while Joel slept on a mat on the floor. Leaning back against the frame of the bed he felt a sudden cool sensation run down his chest. He patted down his shirt and found it soaked with blood on his right side.

"Awe shit!" He whispered as he turned to wake June.

Looking round he found June fast asleep. Ellie was on June's left with her arms above her head partially snoring.

"June... June..." He whispered as he reached for June's hand to get her attention without waking Ellie.

"Humm... Eh."

"Hey... Can you take a look at this."

"Just leave it with the interns." She sighed and mashed her face in her pillow.

As comical as this was to him he began to feel the blood flowing out more and more. So he got onto his knee's and reached for her shoulder.

"June... I'm ah needing your assistance." He whispered shaking her slightly.

"Eh. What." She grumbled peeling herself from the bed. "Oh... Eh... What is.. Oh dear... What happened?" She finished with more clarity when she could see the big blood stain building up on the front of his shirt.

" Beats me, just woke up like this."

"Huh.. Let me see." She said lowering down to the ground in front of him.

He moved back toward the book shelf and began to unbutton his shirt.

"Okay." She began carefully lifting his shirt away. "Ha. Just as I suspected. Your bandage fell off." She said reaching down his shirt and pulling it out. "Dammit... I told you it was a bad idea to sleep on the floor. Look, because your bandage fell off your shirt pulled out some of your stitches."

"Oh. Well. That's not so bad."

"Joel." She said rolling her eyes. "We need to get out of here soon, and we can't leave till everyone is back in health."

"Hey. I'm fine... Just some stitches right?"

June shook her head. She just got out her kit and cleaned him up, without saying a word. Once she was done she put her kit aside and walked out of the room in route to the kitchen.

"You fuck up again?" Ellie questioned in a groggy voice.

"It's just some stitches."

"Heh. Yeah but that's not as bad as the silent treatment you are going to get from June for the rest of the day."

Joel shook his head and pulled over his pack to get another shirt.

"You know Joel we are going to be stuck together for some time. You need to start respecting her opinion."

"Heh. You lecturing me about respect."

"Yeah. I know. Whatever. Just listen. You're so distant that it's like you don't care."

"What do you mean? Of course I care. She's the one we crossed the goddamned states to find."

"No... It's... The way you treat her it's like you're expecting her to leave us at any point. And what's this shit about sleeping on the floor?"

"Ellie you know damn well we are in dangerous shit all the time. People don't usually survive. It's best not to get too attached. I can't risk having any more weaknesses."

"So you don't want to risk starting up something with June?" Ellie interpreted.

"What!" Joel said taken aback from her very astute question.

"I know she is nothing like Tess, but she is a good person Joel... And I like her... So..."

"Now wait. First of all, there was nothing much to Tess and me. It was just business." He slightly lied with this statement. Yes they mainly worked together with their smuggling, but there were a few times that they helped each other out in other ways. But, they always made it clear that there would be no emotions or strings attached. "And... Well... I'm in no position for it. We need to keep our heads clear so we can make it to her lab alive."

"Fine... But promise me... Promise me you will try to be less of a douche to her."

Joel only sighed to this and shook his head. Which Ellie took as his usual reluctant 'fine' when she asked him to do something.

"Shit! They are getting too close!" June said as she slipped back into the room and closed the door as quietly as she could.

"How close?" Joel questioned as he pulled himself up.

"They have to be at least five miles away, I spotted markers from traps they set off."

"Shit." Ellie said as she unconsciously gripped at the sheets.

"We have to leave... We have to leave tonight. We can't wait any longer." June said as she gripped the key chip she wore on a chain around her neck.


	13. Chapter 13

It was a new moon that night, and there was a thick layer of clouds. The snow had eased up a little, which made the weather tolerable. But not by much.

In the low lamp light Joel's labored breaths billowed around his face and dissipated into the dark abyss of the forest. He was loading up Ellie's horse with the rest of the supplies. Above, June and Ellie were working on cutting the main line to the lift. June had packed very little, mostly clothes and a few journals full of notes. She locked down the rest of the tree house, sealing off all the entries. With each area she closed down more color drained from her face. Her nerves were getting to her. She was terrified of the outside world. She had spent the last seventeen years hidden away in the tree house, and now she was being forced to face her demons.

The last thing that needed to be done was to secure the lift from the top platform and lower herself down with a rope. With each lock her breaths became more hollow and her mind more fuzzy. She was starting to have a panic attack. As she secured a rope that doubled over to the ground from a main support her vision narrowed. She covered her eyes and took in a breath.

"Get it together June." She told herself.

She was all alone on the platform. Joel and Ellie were waiting down on the forest floor for her. All she had to do was lower herself down and they would be off. With all her strength she had to will herself to the edge of the platform. In the back of her mind a small voice was telling her she didn't have to do this, and that if she just tossed the rope down she would never have to face hell again. But with one look from Ellie below this voice was silenced. She took in a big breath and connected her harness to the main line. She took one last look at her tree house. There were so many memories there. Some of them good, but most of them bad. The bad being all the years spent there alone. Above all she knew she never wanted to be alone again, even if it meant she could be killed. She was still a bit shaky, but her tunnel vision subsided. In one quick motion she kicked off the platform and lowered down. Looking down she saw Joel below her, steadying the rope. Once she reached the bottom she took off her harness and took the main rope in her hand. With one swift movement she tugged on the rope and severed her connection to her old life. She slowly wrapped the rope around her arm and packed it away in her bag.

"Ready?" Joel asked as he extended his hand to help her up.

"I suppose." She said taking his hand.

Together they cantered through the thicket, and beyond her border of traps. In the distance they could see the dim glow of embers of a campfire. As they came in closer they could see several tents.

"Here, just hold the reins, and stay put." Joel said as he lowered himself down.

"Okay." June said inching forward and onto the saddle.

Joel crept through the thicket of evergreens toward the camp. He wanted to get an idea of who they were dealing with. He counted five tents, and only one guy as lookout. He chuckled to himself when he got a better look at the guy in charge of the night watch. This guy was doing a bang up job; the fire was out and he was dead asleep.

Joel crept back around the trees and to his horse.

"We should be able to pass by them easily, just follow me." He said as he lifted himself back onto the horse.

Joel then lead the horse around the back side of the camp. They had to come dangerously close to the camp due to the cliff that lead to a canyon pass. Joel motioned for Ellie to take the lead once they cleared the first two tents. Just as they were nearing the next cluster of three tent's a pack of coyote howled and screeched in the distance. This caused the lookout to wake, and the horses to scare simultaneously.

"Hey! What! Shit! Hey!... Hey everyone up! We got an ambush!" Yelled the lookout.

The camp quickly came alive. Flashlight beams shot about from within the tents, and loud yells bounced off the cliff walls.

"Hold on tight!" Joel yelled as he gave Zeus a quick kick with his heel.

They were in no shape to fight back. So all they could hope for is to make it through the canyon before the hunters could catch up.


	14. Chapter 14

_Day 10_

_ We narrowly made it that first night. They were on our tail for two days till we crossed the river. We are in Nevada now. Unfortunately the old car garage I planned to get us a car from was completely ransacked. It was an old storage facility that had a few cars locked away. But some assholes fucked that option when they decided to burn the place down. _

_ We at least still have the horses. I am almost used to riding. I was always scared of horses. Especially the really big one's like Zeus. _

_ We had another incident with runners today. We were passing through a small town when a horde of runners spilled out of a nearby building like ants from a disturbed hill. All we could do was gallop off as fast as we could. We managed to only lose a few supplies with that. The amount of infected people astounds me. It is nothing like it was when I first came through here. _

_ One thing that I predict happening very soon is one of the horses getting bit. We need to start scouring the next couple cities for a working car. I have been collecting car parts. At least when we do find one I may be able to make it work._

June yawned and put away her journal. Her night watch was over. They were situated in a shallow cave that overlooked the river. They had three hour watch shifts. June would often go over her time, seeing as she could just sit back and rest with Joel leading the horse when on the move. But the cold was starting to get to her. She put a few more logs on the fire and walked over to the tent. Unzipping the entry she found Joel and Ellie. They were down to just one sleeping bag now, courtesy of the runner that nearly got Ellie in the last town. But in a way this was okay. It was so dam cold at night that they could use each other for warmth.

June got onto her knees and scooted over to Ellie.

"Ellie... Ellie.. It's your turn hun." June said softly as she lightly shook Ellie's shoulder.

"Eh... Oh... Alright." Ellie said as she rolled away from Joel's side and sat up.

"Here, take my jacket. Oh.. and my gun is in the right pocket." June said handing over her large down jacket over to Ellie.

Ellie quickly zipped up the massive jacket and put on the equally large hood.

"I look like a bloater in this thing." Ellie said trying to adjust the hood so she could see.

"Well you just make sure you scare off the other bloaters." June said with a shivered tone as she took her boots off.

"Okay, you sleep now." Ellie said turning toward the tent exit.

As soon as June got off her boots she tossed them aside and quickly slipped into the sleeping bag. Joel was still asleep. It astonished her how he could sleep through their chatter, but spring awake the second danger lurked by. She nestled in close to his side, to which he slightly roused and backed away.

"Oh no you don't, I'm too cold for that bullshit." She said as she scooted in closer to him and wrapped her arm around his side and slipped her hand under his jacket.

He grumbled slightly at this but put up no further protest. He simply relaxed his muscles and tried to fall back asleep.

June relished in her victory. For the past few nights Joel would just turn away from her or offer to take Ellie's shift. But tonight she would not have it. He had limited his interaction with her ever since their last argument at the tree house. Even though she was holding tight to him, with her face buried into his chest he felt light years away. This feeling did not help her sleep, it only kept her awake. Wanting to be away she rolled to her back and got up. She slipped on her boots and walked out of the tent, zipping it shut behind her.

"Ellie." She softly called out.

"Huh? What is it?" Ellie said turning round from the fire.

"Here, I can't sleep. I'll switch back." June said crossing her arms across her chest to keep warm.

"You sure?" Ellie questioned.

"Yes!... Just... Eh... Just give me my jacket please."

Ellie did as she said and slipped back into the tent.

June then returned to her post at the fire and looked out into the dark forest.


	15. Chapter 15

_Day 37,_

_ We are nowhere near to where we thought we should be by now. Many things kept holding us back. One of which was Ellie coming down with a nasty cold. We kept a slow pace at first, but eventually we had to find a place to rest. We had crossed Utah's border and are now in Colorado. We decided to stop by the University labs to see if I could find anything left over from the fireflies while Ellie gets some rest._

_ So far I have not been able to uncover much. All I have found is that they are even more idiotic than I thought. The tainted lab monkeys have almost taken over the area. When we first arrived Joel told me to not worry too much about them. But once we made our way into the labs they became more territorial. We managed to barricade off a chunk of the lab; windows, vents, and all doors. One made its way into the lab one night. Fortunately Joel shot it before it took off with some of our gear. _

_ I took some samples from the monkey and tried to figure out why they show no signs of infection. From what I can find the infection is present in their system, but it does not seem to bond to their DNA like it does with humans. In essence they are like carriers where we are like sponges. _

_ I took a few samples from Ellie , just to get some idea with what I will be working with when we get back to my lab. Just as I suspected she has the Delta 32 mutation. It seems to be keeping the infection from bonding to her DNA. However it's wreaking havoc on her immune system. Her lymph nodes on her neck are all bloated out and tender to the touch. The pain is so intense that we have her padded with every clean pillow we could find in the facility on a gurney. _

_ We are too low on fuel to use any of the equipment. All the fuel needs to be used to keep us warm. This place is like a morgue. Poor Ellie now has what I believe to be Mono. I managed to scrounge up some medicine, but it only takes the edge off. _

_ Joel keeps her entertained. I'll often hear him talking to her about sports and all the games he used to watch with Tommy and Sarah. Sometimes Ellie is awake to hear about this, but as of late she falls into a deep sleep without warning. I can tell this is killing Joel to see her like this. As much as he claims 'she is not his daughter,' any outsider would have a hard time seeing otherwise. _

"Hey. You think you can watch Ellie for a bit? I'm gonna check the grounds one more time for fuel." Joel said from behind June.

She jumped a little at this. She was so engrossed in her writing that she didn't hear him get up from his creaky chair.

"Oh... Yeah. Sure... Wait.." She said as she quickly closed her journal and pushed it under a pile of paperwork. "Let me go. I might be able to uncover more data from the lower levels. I read about the doctor talking about some files that I have yet to find up here."

"You sure?"

"Yeah... I'll be fine. Besides, Ellie freaks out whenever she wakes up and finds you missing."

"Alright then." Joel agreed.

June packed up her bag and slipped through the door Joel temporarily removed the barricade from.

"I shouldn't be gone for more than a half hour. Okay?"

He nodded and sealed the door shut.

June pulled out a flashlight and walked down the long hallway. The weather was so bad out that it was hard to tell what time of day it was. She buttoned up her jacket as she came to the side stairway. From the map she uncovered a few days ago, she would have to take the outside stairway down, then cross the quad to the Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences building. She was not looking forward to this hike, but she needed to see if there was anything left from the fireflies.

As she opened the heavy door to the stairway gusts of wind accosted her and quickly chilled her to the bone.

"Oh... This better be worth it." She said to herself as she grabbed the railing.

The cement stairs had a thick layer of ice on them, which caused June to almost fall down the first flight of stairs.

Once she reached the bottom she had yet again another door to open. Looking through the window she could only see ten feet in front of herself. But seeing as blizzard did not look like it was going to let up any time soon she pushed the door open and darted across the quad. The snow was up to her knees almost, so each step had to be calculated. After the second building she turned and found herself in front of her target building.

Coming up to the front doors she found them chained shut.

"I hope there is a back entrance, or maybe..." She stopped short of her sentence when she spotted a low window on the side of the building. She walked around and used a bench to get into the building. She hit the floor harder than she intended. Getting up slowly she dusted off the shards of glass from her pants and took a look around. She was in a old classroom. Desks were knocked over and the blackboard cracked in half. She crossed the room and through the door. Looking down the hall she spotted an old sign pointing to stairway access. She headed down six flights of stairs till she reached the Bio medical labs.

This part of the building seemed to be in the best condition. Pushing the door open slowly she peered in. The room was big, with six workstations in the main space and several enclosed sterile chambers off to the side. What immediately got her attention was a large cabinet full of untouched medicine. She walked over to it and touched her hand to the cabinet door to make sure it was real. Taking off her bag she opened the main pouch and began to fill it with as many vials of antibiotics and any other thing she could reach for.

Once done she returned her now heavy bag to her back and walked over to the file cabinets. She filtered through every drawer and found nothing . As she opened the last drawer she heard a sound come from the main entry. She froze in place, and listened for it again. Loud footsteps could be heard coming down the steps. She quickly ducked down behind the table and turned off her flashlight. The footsteps came closer and closer. She peered around the table and looked to the door. A dim light peaked under the double doors, seconds before one of them opened. Two scraggly men walked in. Their facial hair was still filled with snowflakes from the outside.

"Well just like Rob said. It's still here." Said the one man walking over to the med cabinet.

June inched around the table corner and out of their sight.

"Whatever man. Let's just get this shit." Said the other man holding his open bag out to catch the med's.

Through the loud sounds of the men shoveling vial's out of the cabinet June made her way around the tables toward the door. She had to do this in the dark, which made it impossible due to all the chairs and debris surrounding them. As she rounded the last table her boot caught on a chair and toppled it over.

"Hey!"

"What the fuck was that!"

The two men called out. They quickly pulled out their weapons and came toward where June was. She began to panic. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her gun. She only had four rounds left in her revolver, and she really wanted to avoid using them here.

In the dim light she could see the first man approaching from her left. She had the main doors to her back, and only a short sprint to the steps. The other man was coming from her right, and was much closer. Once she spotted the man on her right she saw no other option, she would have to shoot him, then try to make it through the doors. Taking in one last breath she aimed and took the shot.

"Ah! Fuck!"

"What the Hell!" Yelled the man from her left who was running toward his dead accomplice.

As soon as he crossed the room she got up and sprinted to the doors. Gunshots rang out in the room, and sparks from their impact ricochet off the walls illuminating the way. Just as she reached the door one of the bullets nailed her in her side just above hip, and another quickly followed and dug in deep into her shoulder.

"Ahh..." She cried out in pain as she fell forward through the doors.

She fell onto her knees on the cold concrete floor. Blood was gushing out the wound on her chest, and her vision was beginning to blur from the pain.

"I'm gonna get you bitch!" Called the approaching man.

She quickly pulled herself up sprinted up the six flights of stairs. With no time time catch her breath she darted back through the classroom she entered the building through. With little care about the glass, she jumped through the window and landed hard on the ground. Another gun shot rang out, with its sounds bouncing off the walls of the tall buildings. The man was at the front doors and attempting to shoot the lock. Looking down she could see she was leaving a blood trail. She could not afford to lead this man back to their safe house. She quickly darted across the quad and ducked down for cover.

"Think June Think... Where can I go.. Where can I..."

A genius idea hit her. She held her left arm down at her side, letting the blood flow evenly down allowing her to leave a clean trail to follow. She ran as fast as she could toward the dormitory. Once through the doors she ran down the hall, halfway to the end she pulled her arm in to stop her trail. She then headed through the back kitchen and jumped through the window. She braced herself close against the cold brick wall and kept low under the window. From behind she could hear the front doors swing open.

"Where are you bitch!" He called out as he kicked the doors shut. "I know your here. You left a big red trail. You can't hide when you leave a trail bitch!"

She could hear him tossing furniture about and kicking open closet doors.

"WHERE ARE YOU!" He yelled out before he shot his gun at the ceiling.

June shook out of fear from this.

"Come on, come on." She whispered to herself.

"Hey... So there you are... Nice, hiding in the closet... real orignaa...AHHHHHH FUCK!"

From inside loud screeches of monkeys filled the dormitory. June cautiously lifted herself up and looked through the window. The monkeys were coming from all directions toward the man. The man was screaming bloody murder as they swarmed him and bit and tore away his flesh. Not able to take in the scene another moment she moved away from the window and made her way back to their safe house.

The wind had picked up. Chills ran down her spine and made her knees lock. Her heart was pounding so fast that she felt like vomiting. Squinting her eyes she tried to look ahead to read the building sign. As she did this a dark figure darted from behind a building and behind a dumpster.

"Shit." She said under her breath as she darted over to a large frozen over fountain.

She crouched down and pulled out her gun. Slowly she crept around the rounded edge of the fountain. Peeking around the edge she looked to the dumpster where she last saw the figure. She could see a line of footprints heading toward her. Before she could think about where they were leading she heard the distinct crunched footstep in snow behind her. Readying her gun she turned round and decided to face this person. The steps got closer and closer.

"'Okay, on one.. two...three.'"

On three June was on her feet and had her gun pointed at this mystery person, who also had their gun pointed at her. With their sudden movement a flurry of snow was kicked up obstructing her view of her opponent. Before she could take a shot the person pushed her backward and pinned her down.

"Get off me you fuck!" June screamed as she kicked and flailed.

"June."

"Let me go I'll kill you!" She yelled through tears of pain and fear.

"June! June. It's me." The man said as he lifted off of her.

June's ears finally began to work when she recognized it as Joel's voice.

"What... Oh. Oh god Joel it's you." She cried out as she wrapped her arms around him. "I almost shot you!" She said through her convulsive sobbing breaths.

"Yeah you almost did... wait what's..." Joel released himself from her embrace and patted at the front of her jacket. As he brought his hand up he spotted blood on his fingertips. "What? What happened?"

"Ran into two assholes in the lab... I shot the first one there... Then..." June leaned back into the snow, her eyes became heavy and her speech slurred, "then... I lead the other one... to ... the..."

"Shit woman, don't fall asleep!" Joel yelled as he reached forward and shook her.

"Huh... No its fine. I'm just tired."

"No... Shit. Come on." He said trying to pull her up.

June's legs were wobbly and she did not have the strength to hold herself up. Joel struggled to keep her up on her feet but just decided that carrying her would be the fasted way to get them back.

"Grab around my neck!" He ordered her as he lifted her up.

"Huh... Alright." She mumbled as she followed his order.

He trudged through the thick snow. They were at least a mile away from their safe house. The wind was picking up and June's body shook all over, making it difficult to keep a steady grasp on her. As they rounded the final building before the quad her grasp loosen around his neck.

"Hey, you stay awake! June! Just a little further."

June didn't respond to this, and her arms only flopped down.

"Shit!" Joel said gripping her tighter.

He quickly crossed the quad as fast as he could while June's head bobbed up and down like a rag doll. As soon as he got them inside the stairway he lowered her down on the floor and checked to see if she was still breathing. Getting a closer look he could see her chest slowly rising and falling.

"June. Wake up!" He said trying to pull her up to sit.

She weakly turned her face away and grumbled out of pain.

"Okay, just stay awake. We are inside now." He said picking her up again.

"It hurts, its hurts so bad." She cried out as she buried her face into his neck.

"What happened?" He questioned through labored breaths of climbing the stairs.

"I was shot, those fucking bastards shot me."

"Are there any more around here?"

"I don't know... I... I only saw two, and there both dead."

Once they reached the top level Joel kicked his way through the door and down the hall. He ducked into a office and through to the back door.

"Ellie...Ellie.. It's me. Open the door." Joel said in a low voice

The grinding slide of the deadbolt sounded and the door creaked open.

"Watch out girl." Joel said pushing his way past, "lock that door!"

"What happened! Oh my god...June!"

"Clean off the desk... Quick!" Joel ordered.

"Okay okay.." Ellie said darting over to the desk and pushing off all the paper piles and books off the side.

Joel came over and lowered June onto the desk carefully. He rolled her onto her side and took off her bag.

"Here, take this." Joel said passing the bag to Ellie.

As soon as Ellie grabbed the bag she became dizzy and stumbled forward.

"Jesus baby girl. You okay?"

"Yeah... Just feel hella weak."

"Just get back to bed. I don't need to be mending up any more people."

Ellie left June's bag on the floor and walked back to her bed, pulling her curtains shut.

"Alright, where should I start June?...June?"

June had passed out again.

"Dammit woman! Get up!" He said pulling her up to sit.

"Ahh. Shit!" She moaned through gritted teeth, and kicked her heels back onto the drawers of the desk.

"Sorry, but I can't have you falling asleep now."

"You know you really need to work on your bedside manner."

"Good. Now that you are back to normal, what should I do?"

"Get my kit, rags... You know the drill." She sighed

Joel knew perfectly well what he needed to do. He just wanted to make sure he kept her awake through the process.

"Okay here." He said dropping the kit next to her. "Let's get a look at this"

He gently began taking off one layer at a time, and tossing them aside. By the time he got down her last two layers he took extra care. Her shoulder looked like hell, and so did her side. June had a steady stream of tears running down her cheeks. Her lip bled a little from biting down on it.

Starting from the bottom he unbuttoned her shirt, then peeled it off. The soaked shirt fell down her arms, and fell on top her hands that were planted on the desk behind her. Joel hesitated for a moment with his next move. He could see the impact point, which was right under her sports bra strap.

"It's fine, just take it off." She said noticing his conflicted look.

"Alright... How...?" He said looking round for hooks.

"No... Here... Eh..." June said lifting her arms up.

"Oh." He said as he gripped under the elastic and lifted it up and off her.

As he did this it tore away some dry blood, causing her to shriek out in pain and jump forward.

"Fuck! That hurt! Shit!" She cursed through gasps of pain.

"Okay so let's..." Joel gulped when he saw her wound.

The area was all raised up and the hole looked deep. He looked over her shoulder and only found the area bruised, it had not gone through.

"Look's like I will have to dig it out."

"Awe fuck..." June said squinting her eyes.

Tears flowed heavily from her eyes and down her chest.

He then looked down to her side and found the very same thing.

"Okay I'll try to make this quick." He said pulling out the hemostats and matches.

"Can I have the spoon?"

"Yes... Here." He said handing it over.

He then stood and placed her knees between his legs, and looked down at the wound.

"This is going to hurt like hell." He said as he slowly put pressure on the wound, and spread it to peak in and find the bullet.

Through this June whimpered in pain.

He then poured some alcohol over the wound. Applying more pressure he spread the puncture and spotted a quick glint of light reflect in the round.

"Okay, found it." He said reaching in with the hemostats.

He gripped around the bullet and slowly pulled it out. June writhed in pain, and bit down hard on the spoon handle.

"I got it." He said as he pulled it out and dropped it onto the desk. "Okay, one more. You're doing great, just hold on a little more."

June's chest wound bled profusely, and flowed down her left breast toward her other wound. Joel would have to this up if he wanted to be able to get to the other wound.

"You know." June began after she took the spoon out of her mouth. "This would be hot if it weren't for me being shot and all."

Joel cleared his throat out of discomfort with this.

"If you have the energy to tease me you can take over any time."

"Oh, no. I could black out at any second. I'm just focusing all my energy on embarrassing comments to keep me awake."

"Alright then." He said picking up a rag and beginning to clean up her chest.

"There real you know... Sorry.. I'm getting obnoxious now."

He couldn't help from cracking an embarrassed smile at this. He then decided to play along with her game, just to make sure she was alert, and to get her back for putting him through this hell. So he casually commented, "I can tell."

She gave him an odd glance, then when realizing his answer covered both of her statements. She breathed out a quick breath of shock and looked away. Her pale cheeks gained a little color from her blush.

"Alright, one more to go." He said as he sealed down the thick patch of gauze and cotton over her wound.

He then rinsed down the second wound and looked in.

"You're gonna need that spoon again." He said spotting the bullet.

"Waaay aheeead uh yooou." She slurred, with the spoon handle firmly gripped down between her teeth.

"Okay. One, two, three."

"Fuahhhk!" She wailed as she buckled forward.

He caught her seconds before she fell off the desk.

"Alright. Just need to clean it up now." He said laying her flat on her back.

She laid out with her arms at her sides. She was too weak to care about modestly.

"Doesn't look like it pierced any organs." He said lightly pushing down on her side.

"Eh... That's good." She said as she squirmed under the pressure.

He quickly cleaned up the wound and dressed it. Packing away the kit he cleaned off his hands and looked around for her bag.

"Which bag has your clothes?"

"What... You wanna spoil the view?" She said in a state of slight delirium.

Joel ignored her and walked over to her bag. Opening the main pouch he discovered all the vials of medicine.

"Where'd you get these?"

"Oh. The same place I got shot... Yeah. That's where." June mumbled.

"You nearly lost your life getting these." He said as he held up one of vials to the light. The Amber solution looked to still be in good shape.

"It was worth it. You two are all I have left." She said moments before she blacked out.

He returned the vial back to the bag and walked over to the pile of bags from their horses. He pulled out a long sleeve t-shirt and a thick sweater for June. Standing next to the desk Joel planned his angle of attack. He decided to slip the shirt over her arms as she lay back, then pull her up to sit to get it down. This worked only in theory however. She nearly fell on the floor and pulled him down with her. He managed to stabilize her by keeping one hand bracing her middle back and using his free hand to fumble with her noodle arms.

Once done with this ordeal he lifted her off the hard desk surface and took her over to a the couch. As he did this his back ached from the strain. Once he reached the couch he decided to sit back with her still in his arms. Her exhaustion was contagious. The last thing he managed to do was pull the heavy quilt up and over the both of them before he fell into a deep sleep.


	16. Chapter 16

Joel woke with a horrible pain in his neck. Opening his eyes he found himself still sitting up on the couch, with June in his arms. He craned his neck in attempt to crack the joint. A loud pop and crack sounded and stunned June.

"Sorry. Eh. Had to." Joel said leaning his head back.

"Ugh... Its fine." June said stretching back.

As she raised her arms above her head she felt a sharp pain from her wound, and was quickly reminded of her injuries.

"Owww! Shit..." She said through gritted teeth.

She retracted both her hands to her chest and held down at her dressing. Gripping at her shirt she suddenly became confused and looked around.

"When did I dress myself?"

"You didn't."

"Oh... Well that explains there being no bra." She said mostly to herself.

He shook his head at this, then rubbed his eyes, in an attempt to ignore this comment.

"Joel? June? You two awake?" Called Ellie from across the room.

"Yeah, hold on baby girl." Joel said as he helped June up.

He helped walk June over to Ellie's curtained off area. June could not stand up straight yet. The wound above her hip was tender and tugged at her muscles. As soon as they entered Ellie's space it was like they crossed over into a completely different room. The air was stagnant, and seemed to drain the energy from them. Ellie's neck had swollen out more than before, her eyes were red, and her skin pale.

"Shit!" June exclaimed as soon as she fixed her eyes on Ellie.

Joel didn't say a word. This sight was too shocking that it knocked the wind out of him.

"Joel.. Get my bag.. Quick!" Ordered June.

Joel was in such a state of shock that he could not hear June.

"Joel?"

"What? Huh?"

"Didn't you hear me? Get my backpack."

Joel turned and went to retrieve the bag.

"Oh dear. Ellie, why didn't you wake us earlier?" June said as she checked Ellie's temperature.

"I tried, but you couldn't hear me." Ellie said with a low cracked voice.

June reached over for a flashlight and moved back over to Ellie, "Here open up, let's check those tonsils."

Ellie, slowly cracked open her mouth.

"Jesus!" June exclaimed.

"What! What is it?" Questioned Joel as he brought in the bag.

"Her tonsils are all blown up!"

"Am I gonna die?" Ellie questioned as her eyes dilated out of fear.

"I got some actual medicine now. It should help." June said opening the pack and pulling out a new syringe packet and vial of antibiotic. "Now your about the weight of a Rottweiler right?"

Joel and Ellie both gave her a confused look at this question.

"Heh. This med is from a veterinary medicine cabinet... It's a joke... Never mind." She said as she injected the dose into Ellie's arm. "All we can do is wait." She said squeezing Ellie's hand. "I'll go scrounge up something for us to all eat."

June then hobbled out toward their bags across the room.

Joel scooted a stool up to the bed and sat down.

"That bad huh?" Ellie questioned, as she observed Joel's concerned face.

Joel didn't say a word. All he did was hold Ellie's hand.

Ellie who always tried to make a laugh out of things to cope with reality struggled with his reaction. She sniffled and closed her eyes to hide her tears. The stress of this moment caused her to dift off to sleep.

"Got some tea and soup." June said as she limped in while pushing a small cart.

Joel looked over to June with an expression devoid of emotion.

She pushed the cart to the side and leaned over to check Ellie's forehead.

"Her fever has gone down a little." June said in attempt to give Joel some relief.

But, he just kept his stony gaze fixed on Ellie.

"I'm going to go change my bandages. You eat without me okay?"

He gave her a slight nod as she left, but he kept his gaze trained on Ellie.

As Joel watched Ellie sleep he had this knot form in his stomach. He couldn't bare the thought of Ellie not making it through this. She was the only thing he had left in his life. He leaned forward with his elbows and closed his eyes in attempt of clearing his thoughts.

An hour passes by slowly. June finally finished up her last bandage on her chest. She had to apply it by looking into a mostly broken mirror. She was tempted to ask Joel to do it, but she didn't want to disturb him. The wounds were looking good, no infection like the last incident. She slipped back on her shirt and sweater and walked over to check on Ellie and Joel. Peaking through the curtain she spotted Joel, still awake, and guarding over Ellie.

As she walked across the room Joel didn't look away from Ellie. She stood behind Joel, waiting to find something to say, something that would make him less miserable. She opened her mouth in an attempt to say something, but just ended up taking in a breath. There was nothing that they could do right now, and telling him that was not going to make this any easier. The longer she stood there the more she felt his apprehension. Never in her life had she felt so much misery from one individual. This physically crippled her, and caused her to use the nearest table to support herself.

Leaning on the table she weighed her options. She didn't just want to leave, and she certainly wasn't going to just stand there and watch. Taking in a breath she walked up behind him and put her hand lightly on his shoulder.

"Ellie is going to be fine Joel. She is too stubborn to let this take her down." She said with a slight grip of reassurance.

For a few seconds Joel took in what she said. Then he slowly turned and looked at June. Studying her face he saw an individual who, like him had seen hard times. Yet despite this she was still able to express hope and sincerity toward another person. With all the times he pushed her away she still made efforts to support him. He felt ashamed by this and averted his eyes back to Ellie. June, not wanting him to go back to his previous state leaned in and put her arms around him and rested her chin on his right shoulder.

The warmth of her touch felt as though it were lifting away some of his stress. The tension in his neck slacked, and his heart rate evened out. The only thing he was feeling at the moment was conflict. For so long he pushed her away. But that was how he survived in the past. He didn't know her, and he didn't trust her. But now, she had promised to help them, gave up her home, and nearly died trying to help Ellie. She was valuable to their cause in more ways than one now. His head fell forward more and more with this on his mind. He didn't have the strength, nor to the words to express his gratitude for her part in this adventure.


	17. Chapter 17

_Day 52,_

_ We are back on the trail. It took some time, but Ellie is almost back to normal. One sign she is on the mend is she is able to irritate Joel for a good ten minutes now. Her record is thirty minutes, so she still needs time to heal. For now I will just have to assist her to help keep her quota up. _

_ We crossed into Nebraska yesterday morning. It's still snowing... I guess I was spoiled with all those years with Californian springs. My wounds healed up pretty good. However, this cold weather is hell on my joints. Incidentally, I'm pretty sure that gunshot in the shoulder did something bad to the joint. _

_ Despite the teasing I think Joel is finally ope..._

"June? Hey you ready to go?" Called Joel.

"Oh. Sorry." She said packing up her stuff quickly.

Together they walked to their horses. Ellie was back to her own horse now. She was grateful to have her independence again. She never wanted to be bedridden or forced back to the weak defenseless girl she was before she was with Joel.

Joel mounted first then offered his hand to hoist June up. As she settled herself Ellie chimed in.

"You two on the horse look like a cover for a romance novel."

"Oh.. We gonna start this first thing in the morning are we?" Joel said with a sigh as he pulled up the reins.

"Yeah like a romance novel from hell." June began in a sarcastic tone. "Although I guess if your into being beat to hell, running for your life, and never bathing then this is some hot shit. Besides..." She looked over to Ellie waiting to make sure she had her attention. "If we were on a romance novel cover the girl would be holding onto the man like this..." June then wrapped her arms around Joel's chest then posed with a overly dramatic sexy face.

"Oh my god! I think I pissed myself!" Ellie wheezed through her laughter.

June buckled over slightly and laughed so hard she snorted a few times.

They took a good five minutes to recover from this, all the while Joel tried to maintain his stony expression. He had grown accustomed to their teasing, and learned, from experience, to just ride it out. Any time he tried to defend himself in the past it only made it worse.

After about two hours of June explaining to Ellie the purpose of romance novels, Joel was thankful to see a town.

"Alright ladies, let's keep it down now." Joel said breaking their discussion of the quintessential sexy male lead.

"Awe man..." Ellie sighed.

"What, can't handle the conversation anymore Joel?" June teased.

He just shook his head and lead the horse into the town.

The town was completely ransacked. Several buildings had burned down to the foundation. Graffiti from passing tourist kept to their same themes of dooms days and hopelessness scattered about the town. Once they reached the center they noticed something odd. Thousands of bones were piled over an old fountain.

"Jesus, most of these are human bones." June said as they stopped to look.

"That's pretty fucked up." Ellie said circling round the side.

As she did this she spooked a rat that was leaving the bone sculpture for the nearby dumpster. The rat darted through her horses hooves and back into the bone pile. As it furiously dug its way into the pile it knocked some of the bones about causing a landslide. The bones crashed down, and echoed off the brick walls around them. In the distance they could hear the shrieks of clickers approaching.

"C'mon let's move!" Joel yelled as he turned his horse round.

They quickly galloped down the main street. As they did this the road became more narrow, and blocked off by cars and dumpsters. Eventually they found themselves at a dead end, with a horde of clickers heading their way.

"What are we gonna do?" Screamed Ellie as she tried to control her horse.

Joel looked around for any opening for them to take. Every alleyway was closed off with eight foot fence with barbed wire on top. Spinning his horse round he spotted a ladder leading up to an apartment rooftop.

"Grab what you need we got to ditch the horses."

"Oh, man!" Ellie exclaimed.

"C'mon baby girl you first." Joel said as he extended his hand out.

The Clickers were coming up closer and closer.

"Hurry up kid!" Joel said as low as he could, as he helped June stand on the back of the horse.

"Oh shit there almost here!" Ellie said as she finally grasped the ladder extension and gave it a tug.

The rusty ladder made a loud screeching grind sound as it extended down, which spooked the horses and attracted the incoming Clickers. June stumbled forward and fell hard into the ladder rungs.

"Climb woman!" Joel yelled.

Clickers first reached Ellie's horse. The horse snorted and squealed as the Clickers started to swipe and tear at it.

"Don't look down Ellie!" June called up.

"Those fuckers!" Ellie yelled through fresh tears.

Joel managed to get up the ladder seconds before the clickers got to his horse. Zeus put up a little more of a fight than the other horse, but with over fifty Clickers there was only so much it could do.

Once inside the apartment complex they made their way up to the roof.

"There... We can cross there." Joel said pointing to a metal ladder used as a bridge over the tall fence.

Together they crossed the ladder and down the back side of the fence into the forest. They kept a quick pace till they reached a reservoir.

"Great, now what?" Ellie questioned somewhat winded.

"There's a boat... I think I can swim to it." June said pointing to a boat a ways out toward an half sunk houseboat.

"You sure?" Joel questioned.

"Yeah. Besides, you hate cold water." She said dropping her bag. "Here, hold this. I can't risk losing it in the water." June said as she handed her key chip necklace over to Joel.

She then stripped off a few layers and her boots.

"Ohhhh shit.. That's cold." She exclaimed as she waded into the water. "That boat better not have a hole in it." She said with a shivered tone as she was now shoulder deep.

Once she reached the boat she found it was in good condition, but tied off to part of the houseboat. She slowly lifted herself up onto a part of the deck that was half above the water. As she steadied herself she looked down on the planks. There she found fresh footprints leading into the houseboat behind her. Before she could react a hand reached around her neck, and pulled her up. June was unable to see this persons face. All she could see was the reflection of the gun held up to her head in the water.

From the beach this scene could be clearly seen. Ellie and Joel watched in disbelief as a man in all black dragged June to the edge of the deck, hit her hard in the back of the head with his pistol, then tossed her into a hidden boat off to the side. The man hesitated for a moment, then looked back at Joel and Ellie. Joel pushed Ellie behind him, as he kept eye contact with this mysterious man. The man raised his gun and took a shot at the old wooden boat, then jumped down into his own boat with June. The loud sound of the motor echoed across the reservoir till they were out of sight.


	18. Chapter 18

June woke to the sensation of a bug crawling on her neck. She flinched away from it and attempted to swipe it off with her hand. But she found her hands bound behind her back and her ankles tied.

"What the..."

When she opened her eyes she found herself in a dark room, laying on the cold concrete floor. She rolled to her back and pulled herself up to sit. There were no windows in the room. Only a dim ceiling light, and a metal door to her left. She could hear voices on the other side of this door, and footsteps coming close. The light in the room suddenly switched on bright, and she heard the loud sound of a deadbolt disengage. Through squinted eyes she looked down toward foot of the door. Cockroaches were skittering off in all directions in attempt to escape the light.

"Ah good your awake. Jennings, bring in a chair please."

Said a man who stepped over June and pointed to an area to set it.

"Good... Now pull her up."

Jennings grabbed June by the scruff of her hair and lifted her bound arms up uncomfortably high, and forced them round the back of the chair as he pushed her down.

"Looks like you've done this before Jennings. Good touch... Now leave us."

June's eyes still burned from the sudden shock of the bright light. All she could see was the blurred figure of a man in front of her.

"Do you have any idea how hard it was to find you June?"

"How do you know my name?"

"Oh, June. You don't remember me? Has it really been that long? Here..." The man walked up to her and grabbed her chin and forced her to look at him. "Get yourself a better look. I know it's been what... twenty-three years now."

June's eyes burned from the bright light above, but were starting to clear up. This man looked to be in his forties, had short well groomed wavy blond hair, and thin silver wire frame glasses. It was when she looked into his green eyes that she knew who he was.

"Dr. Wade?"

"Oh. June... You know I always preferred you calling me Geoffrey. I mean come on, I was Rene's best man for god sake's."

"Sorry. I didn't feel you deserved the familiarity." June said with a tone of disdain.

"Aww. You know I was just kidding that one time. However... Now that Rene is out of the picture..." Geoffrey slid his hand down her neck and to her chest. "I won't have to hold back."

June turned away from him and attempted to kick him away.

"Hey now. You best save your energy." He said walking to the door and giving it a quick knock.

A man in a black uniform came up to the door and handed him a chair.

"Okay dear, now let's get to business." He said as dragged the chair over to where she was.

He then unbuttoned his white lab coat and sat down.

"What could you possibly want from me?"

"Ha ha. Don't play dumb Dr. Ridgemore. I need your assistance with some missing research."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Don't fucking play with me bitch!" He yelled as he slapped her across the face, nearly toppling her over.

Blood began to stream down from her nose and over her lips.

"Why would I lie about something I don't know about?"

"Oh. Come on June. You have to know... Wait... You didn't put it together yet... Shame on you... Your getting awfully slow." He said as he scooted forward, and began to run his fingers over her knees and up her thighs. "I'm the one who brought the project over to your lab from the private investor, and I'm the one who brought it to the people who mechanized it into a weapon."

Chills ran up her legs and through her body from this information, and his touch.

"Oh... Dear, you got chills. Are you cold?" He said in a sarcastic tone.

"No I'm repulsed!" She said before she spat at his face.

"Heh." He sighed, as he wiped his face and stood up. "You know.. I wouldn't get too comfortable." He said as he kicked her in the stomach.

The kick knocked her backward, and broke the wooden chair with its impact on the concrete floor. He quickly picked her up by the front of her shirt and forced her to face him.

"Try that again bitch!"

Her shirt ripped from her inability to stand and caused her to fall hard onto the ground.

"That must of hurt." Geoffrey said throwing her shirt aside and leaning over her. "Oh, damn. Those are some crazy scars. Oh here..." He said poking on her recent bullet scar on her side. "I remember hearing about this one."

She gave him a confused look.

"Oh I have been keeping my eye on you for years. I knew you were still alive. I managed to get the security feed from the team who raided the lab... Nice move hiding in the ventilation shaft by the way... Granted I lost track of you once you crossed into California. But my scouts were able to inform me they had a positive ID last November. Anyway... I have been unable to progress the weapons potential by myself. Sooo..." He quickly cleared his voice, knelt down, wrapped his hand around the back of her neck, and pulled her up to stand. "I will ask you nicely one last time. Where is the rest of the research?"

June breathed heavily from the pain of her fall, and the awkward angle she was standing. But she didn't want to show any sign of weakness. She craned her head forward, looked him in the eyes and said,

"Go to hell!"

With one swift movement he released his grasp from her neck and let her fall to the ground.

The back of her head bounced hard off the concrete and knocked her unconscious.

Geoffrey, gave her a light nudge with his foot to make sure she was out. He then walked over to the door and lightly knocked.

"Jennings, prep the cage. We're going to have to get the information out of her the hard way."


	19. Chapter 19

"Ellie! Ellie! Don't go too far ahead."

"Come on Joel! We have to catch up to them!" Ellie said out of breath.

They had not stopped moving since June was taken away. As soon as they circled the reservoir they discovered tire tracks from a vehicle heading down a dirt road. It was night, and the new moon made it difficult to traverse through the rugged cliff side trail.

"Ellie! We need to stop."

"We can't. We have to save June!"

"Ellie... Will you..."

"No! I know you could care less what happens to her Joel! I know how much you just want to quit and go back to Tommy's."

"Now wait a goddamn minute. I care about June. But, we need to also look out for ourselves. The person who took her didn't just happen to be there. That means they have been on our trail for god knows how long. They may even still be on us. So we need to find somewhere to lay low till we can work on a plan to find her."

Ellie threw her hands down at her sides and sighed through a frustrated breath. She knew Joel was right.

"We clear?" Joel pried.

"Yeah..." Ellie said walked toward Joel. "Lead the way."

"Alright then."

They traveled away from the main road and through a thicket of trees. Once they cleared the forest they hit a clearing with large boulders embedded in the hillside.

"This will do." Joel said as he found a seat in front of a boulder.

As he looked forward he noticed a dim light coming from what looked to be a small town in the distance.

"That may be where June is right now."

"You think so?" Ellie said sitting down next to Joel.

"You sleep first okay."

"Alright." She said as she leaned back and rolled to her side. "Hey Joel?"

"Yeah?"

"When did you start caring about June?"

"Just go to sleep kid." He said cutting her off.

Some distance away June woke up in a puddle of cold water. Her body violently shivered from the cold. When she brought her arms up to her body she discovered she was completely naked.

"What the fuck?"

Before she could register more of her surroundings she heard the distinct sound of a Clicker behind her. She carefully lifted herself up, and onto her feet in a crouched position. The room was darker than before, so it was difficult to see where it was. She placed her hand onto the ground, which lightly splashed the water. Just as she was about to stand a loud bell rang above her. Looking up she could see four barred walls extending from the ceiling down to the floor surrounding her. The louder the bell rang the more the clicker shrieked and wailed. She backed away from where it was, till her back was to one of her cell walls. From behind she heard another Clicker shrill, causing her to quickly move forward to the center of the cage. Both clickers were on opposite sides of the cage, reaching in through the bars toward her.

"Awe. You're awake now?" Geoffrey's voice came in over the intercom.

"What the fuck is this Wade?" Screamed June as she tried her best to keep still at the center of the cage while the Clickers narrowly missed her.

"Oh this is me when I don't get what I want."

"This is madness! Why am I naked?"

"It's just a precaution June. Can't have ya be comfortable or try and kill yourself."

"Look, I told you I don't know about any research beyond what was taken the day your asshole team killed everyone!"

"I don't believe you June. So... Till you decide to tell me, you can just spend some quality time with my pets."

The intercom then clicked off, and the bell began to ring more than before. The Clickers shrieked and snarled as they furiously reached toward the screaming June in the center of the cage.


	20. Chapter 20

As soon as dawn broke Ellie and Joel were on the trail again. They decided to head to the town they saw the previous night. Joel was on high alert. Especially since the closer they came to the town the more they came across maintained roads and trails.

By late afternoon they reached the town. It looked to be mostly abandoned from the outside.

"Are you sure this is the right place?" Ellie whispered as she knelt down in the tall grass next to Joel.

Joel shook his head. He could have sworn this was the place, but by the looks of the state of the town it didn't look like it had electricity for at least fifteen years.

"Well we can at least search it for supplies." Joel said as he pulled himself up.

The town was completely sealed off except for a large gate along the main road.

"Someone must be in there." Joel said mostly to himself as he circled round to the outer buildings.

They kept to the forest line opposite to the road till they discovered a brick building with a broken window that low enough for them to climb through. Joel entered first. The upper floors had been burned through from inside. As he took a few steps forward the floor boards creaked. Looking down he could see that the wooden planks were starting to rot, and were about to fall through to the cellar.

"C'mon kid." He whispered as he offered his hand to pull her up. "Just be careful where you step."

"Shit. This place is fucked." Ellie said as she stumbled forward trying to avoid a large gap in the floor.

She stopped to catch her balance on a old wooden column the center of the building. As she leaned forward a loud creaking sound vibrated along the column and all the way up to the little bit of roof remaining.

"Ellie! Don't move!" Pleaded Joel with his palms forward as a signal to halt her movements. "That column is the last thing holding this place up. Just slowly step away and come toward me."

Ellie took in a gulp of air and slowly released her arms from around the column, and backed away. With every step the floor creaked, and crumbled down through the cracks. Joel reached cautiously toward her saying,

"Easy girl. Just a little further."

Just as she was almost fingers distance Joel reached forward and pulled her over a gap and onto a sold patch of floor.

"Phew, that would have been bad." Ellie said as she wiped some sweat from her forehead.

"Let's get out of this building. C'mon, this way."

They hugged close to the wall and out through a door leading to a side alleyway. As they came closer to the end of the alley Joel could hear a car coming through.

"Hey get down." Joel whispered as he ducked behind a dumpster.

A jeep passed by them then pulled up next to another vehicle in the center of the town. From this vantage point they could see that the center of the town was in better condition than the outside buildings. Five temporary structures were situated around a tall scout tower.

A man dressed in a black military uniform got out of the Jeep and walked toward a person climbing down from the tower.

"Jennings! What brings you here?" Called the man from the tower.

"Any sightings of tourists?"

"Naw. Why? Didn't we just catch that bitch for Wade?"

"June..." Ellie whispered unconsciously when she overheard the men talking.

"Hey! You there! What are you?" Yelled out a soldier who spotted them from a close by alleyway.

"Shit! Run girl!" Joel yelled out as he pushed away from the dumpster.

They sprinted down the alley as the soldier began to shoot at them. The bullets ricochet off the ground and narrowly missed them. The soldier was hot on their trail as they entered the rickety old building.

"Head for the window girl!"

"Yeah, duh."

Ellie ran along the wall and for the window. Joel however, crossed to the center of the building, aiming for the column.

"Just leave a clear path for me kid."

Ellie looked over her shoulder, trying to figure out his meaning. Finding him heading toward the column her eyes grew as large as saucers and she slowed her pace.

"Wait, you..."

"Run girl!" Joel yelled.

She shook her head and made a beeline for the window.

As soon as she cleared the window the soldier entered the building, and began to shoot at Joel. Joel stumbled on the floorboards, and nearly fell through to the cellar. He lunged forward and with one swift movement he pushed hard onto the column. A loud unhealthy crack sound filled the building, cancelling out the gunshots. The building began to vibrate and sway around him. Joel began to sprint toward the window, leaping over the occasional gap in the floor boards. Chunks of the roof and remaining walls were narrowly missing all the while. With the last bit of available floor he leap through the window and landed hard on the ground outside.

"Joel c'mon!" Ellie screamed from across the road.

He pulled himself up and dashed across the road.

"We gotta get clear of this area." Joel said as he grabbed Ellie by the hand and lead her deeper into the forest.


	21. Chapter 21

It was day six of being in the cage. Dr. Wade made a game out of feeding times for her. Packaged food would be thrown into the room, and she would have to reach through the bars and catch it before the clickers could get to her. At first, she tried to skip meals, but when the pain got too intense, and she started to doze off from starvation, she had to start eating. Eventually she discovered that if she sat in the center of the cage, with her knees pulled into her chest they couldn't reach her. She could even manage to take short naps this way. Not that Wade would ever let her sleep.

"Good morning June!" Geoffrey called over the intercom.

June rolled her eyes and didn't move from her position.

"So.. Bad new babe. Seems I have to go on a quick business trip."

"And how is that bad?"

"Awe. You mean you won't miss me."

She rolled her eyes and pulled her knee's in closer to her body.

"Well, I think you will miss me when Jennings takes over for me. He prefers more conventional techniques for interrogation. So... Yeah... I think you are going to miss me a lot when he starts to pluck off your fingernails."

June scrunched in her hands at the thought of this, and took in a shuddered breath. She was nearly to her breaking point as is. How much more could she possibly take? She closed her eyes and rested her forehead on her knees, as she ignored the rest of Wades threats.


	22. Chapter 22

Joel and Ellie kept to the side trails. They traveled only at night, and hid away during daylight hours. At night they would follow the light of cars heading down the main road. Eventually by the eighth night of hiking they discovered a facility nestled deep into a canyon. With its low profile, the facility lights were mostly absorbed by the trees encircling it. If they were not following the patrol cars, they probably would have missed this place.

"Damn." Ellie said as she took in the view of the facility.

All the buildings were modern hard lined cement structures, encircled with fourteen foot tall walls with barbed wire at the top. There were two entrances, one in the front, where most of the small vehicles entered, and another at the back connected to train tracks.

"How in the hell are we supposed to get in there?" Ellie questioned, as she watched Joel scan the area.

Joel shook his head as he looked at this place. The walls were heavily guarded, there were security camera's all over, and there seemed to be consistent foot traffic in and around the facility.

"I don't know kid."

"There's gotta be something Joel."

He had dealt with thugs and small hunter groups before. But, never anything like this.

"Well... I guess we can check around the other side."

"You sound hopeful." Ellie sarcastically commented.

"C'mon. Let's find a way around." He said pushing away from the boulder they were hiding behind, and venturing back into the forest.


	23. Chapter 23

******Flashback******

They were back at the university, and Ellie was just starting to feel better. Joel had just started to nod off while he was watching Ellie sleep. His back hurt from the nasty stool he'd been sitting in for the past four hours. He got up slowly and closed the curtains behind him. As he crossed the room toward the couch he saw June sitting at her desk. She was facing forward, with her hands behind her head, with a hopeless expression on her face.

"June? You okay?" Joel said as he walked up to her.

She blinked her eyes and shook her head. "Umm. Yeah... What?" She half mumbled out.

"You okay?" He repeated.

"Oh... Sorry... I was just thinking that's all."

She leaned back in her chair and began to rub her eyes.

"You find anything new?"

"No. Nothing."

"Well... I'm going to get some rest. Wake me when you want to trade off watch." He said as he turned and began to walk toward the couch.

"Joel?"

"Yeah?"

June bit at her thumbnail, and looked down at her desk covered in cluttered paperwork. She then took in a breath, and looked up at him and said, "Can I ask you a favor?"

He cocked his head slightly out of question to her request as he approached the desk, and sat down.

She stood up and walked around to the front of the desk and leaned back against it in front of Joel.

"I... If there is ever a time that I am endangering Ellie's or your safety I want you..." Her voice slightly cracked for a second. She shook her head and cleared her throat and continued. "I want you to leave me behind... Even... Even if it means that I will die, I want you to think of yourself and Ellie first."

"Now wait a second... I..." Joel tried to cut in.

"No... "June began again, raising her voice over him. "You two have a chance of going on and living Joel. You and Ellie together. For me... Not one day goes by... With.. Without me being reminded of the part I played in this hell we are living in. No... You have a chance to offer her a life better than the shit ones we have lived." Her voice cracked at this last statement and she wiped away the few tears that escaped her eyes.

"What about helping Ellie, and maybe a cure?"

"Heh. I will try my best to help Ellie. But I am just one person Joel. I was part of a team of two hundred experts. We will be lucky if I can help Ellie."

"Well then we will just have to aim for that."

A slight smile forced itself through her sad expression with his resolution.

"How are you able to adjust so quickly... To deal with disappointment so well?"

"Comes with the territory of surviving for as long as I have."

"Oh. I certainly didn't get that from my training."

"You know... If you want.. After this is all over. You are welcome to come home with us. I mean it's nothing like your tree house, but... I know Ellie would really like you to stay around... The new town at least can produce enough power where you could continue your research safely."

"And what about you?"

"What?"

"Do you want me to stay around?"

He quickly averted his eyes to his feet with this question. He still hadn't sorted out his feelings about her. He was ready to settle down and live out the rest of his life at Tommy's with Ellie. But, everything was turned upside down again because of June.

Seeing him struggle with this question she changed her mind, "Actually... Don't answer that.. Just promise me you two will go on without me."

He took in a breath, still looking down at the ground then said, "alright."

"Okay. So... I better show you this." She knelt down next to him and pulled out the key chip. "With the land we purchased for the lab we discovered an old bunker made during the cold war. That bunker was kept a secret, and Rene used it as a storage unit. You will find the entrance next to a willow tree along the river." She then handed him a small map with a circle in the area she pointed. "Now let me tell you about the key. See the blue arrow. Turn it to the side the arrow points to, and use your fingernail to open it." She used her thumb nail and pushed the seam along the side of the metal casing. The metal case opened revealing a small micro key chip inside. "This is the real key. The outer casing is a failsafe. If this key got into the wrong hands, and they tried to use it, everything in the safe will burn up and be rendered useless." She closed the key up and motioned to return it back to her neck, then hesitated. "You want to hold onto it?"

"No. You hold it."

"Alright. You be sure to take it when you need it though. Oh, and take my notes, take everything I have been working on. There's gotta be someone out there able to help." She said with a more relaxed tone as she hid it back in her shirt.

"Well, let's just aim for the new plan." Joel said in attempt to lighten the mood.

"Sounds good to me. And hey, maybe I might just take that offer to go home with you... Oh... Wait..." She put her hand to her forehead in an expression of embarrassment. "You know I have this way with words. Always sounding like a cougar in heat. But, I guess that's what you get for being alone for as long as I have."

_End of Flashback_

"I'm alone... I'm alone... I'm alone."

Was what June repeatedly mumbled like a mantra as she rocked back and forth in the fetal position.

It was her second day of being under Jennings care. Her body was bruised and cut all over. She had a black eye, and all her fingers were dislocated. She had yet to tell him anything, well anything of importance. All she could hope for at the moment was him losing his patience and just ending her life. That would be easier than just waiting for her body to give up.


	24. Chapter 24

"Jennings! Hey."

"What? What is it?" Jennings said over his shoulder at the sink.

He was cleaning blood off his hands. He had just finished a session with June, and was still not successful with getting information out of her.

"A shipment has arrived."

"What? What shipment?"

"That's what I'm saying sir."

"Show me." Jennings said he turned off the water and reached for the clipboard.

Flipping through the pages he scanned the order details.

"Looks to be okay. But... The time.. It's sooner than... Let's go check it out."

Jennings followed the foreman out and to the back entrance of the compound. It was late at night, and the back gate flood lights had swarms of bugs surrounding them. The large back gate was open, with a few soldiers guarding it.

"Well here it is." Said the foreman pointing to the long line of train cars occupying the rails.

"Alright. Well, let's get them open. What are you waiting for?" Jennings said waving to some soldiers to open them up.

Three soldiers came forward, and approached the first car. One unlocked the sliding door, and the others motioned to pull the doors open. As they pulled it open a loud clunk sounded followed by a loud explosion. The soldiers were blown apart, and thrown back toward the wall. The following two train cars blew up as well, carving out a huge hole in the side of the containment wall.

Jennings unpinned himself from under the dead foreman's body. His right ear was bleeding and his head was ringing. Getting to his feet he took a few steps forward. Looking down he spotted the door to the first train car. It had the fireflies emblem spray painted on it. Looking down the line he could see five other train cars, with their doors open and runners pouring out of them.

"Fuck!"

Jennings ran back toward the heavily damaged compound. Most of the southern wall was down, and there were dead soldiers strewn about. A few soldiers from the north gate were heading his direction.

"What's the order sir?"

"Get a team and try to hold off the infected. We need to give the others a chance to evacuate."

"Yes sir!"

Jennings passed through the crowd of soldiers gathering along the south entrance. Gun shots and cries of dying soldiers rang out behind him. Blood ran down from his ear and onto his shoulder. His head was spinning now. He had to find somewhere to rest. To his left another train car blew up and blasted through the west wall. The blast vibrated the ground and caused him to fall to his knees.

"Shit!" He cursed as he lifted himself up.

He stumbled a few times. His equilibrium was off from his injury. Looking forward through the settling debris he could see that the last explosion not only took out the west wall, but it also took out some of the research facilities. The very same buildings that June was in. He picked up his pace, and pushed his way through passing crowds of fleeing staff and soldiers.


	25. Chapter 25

"Holy shit! Joel! What's going on?" Ellie exclaimed.

"I don't know." He said watching a line of soldiers fall to the horde of infected taking over the compound.

Another explosion along the west wall followed moments later. This caused more damage than the first. As the smoke cleared Joel could see hordes of infected coming through the new opening in the wall.

"They leaving?"

"Yeah. They are. This may be our only chance." Joel said as he stood up.

"Wait... You... You gonna go in there... Now?"

Joel was already half way down the hill and heading toward the west wall.

"What should I do Joel?" Ellie called out.

"Make every shot count!" He yelled over his shoulder.

Ellie pulled out the rifle and settled at a good vantage point, and began to follow Joel with the sight.

Joel bounded down the hillside. Once he reached the rubble from the train he slowed his pace. He stuck to the side of the train opposite to the compound. The air was thick with smoke, and the ground was littered with rubble and bodies when he reached the blast point of the west wall. Except for a few meandering infected, the area was clear. He stuck close to the few structures still standing. In the distance he could hear a soldier calling out a name.

"Jennings! Jennings!"

Joel recognized the name immediately and searched for the source of the voice. He headed through part of a burning building, and down a causeway to a flipped car.

"Wow! Jennings, let's go!" Called out the same solider Joel heard earlier.

"No! I have to get the woman, Just leave me a car."

"Alright sir!"

Jennings headed into a building that had people forcing their way out. Joel held back for a few seconds. He didn't want to risk being caught. As the last person hobbled out he slipped in. He spotted Jennings bracing himself against the wall, waiting for a group of people carrying out wounded on gurneys up the stairs. Joel hid behind a tall file cabinet, and waited for them to pass.

Once they cleared the building he looked down the hall and found no one in sight. He quickly darted down the hall and down the stairs. He could hear heavy foot steps below of him. He slowed his pace and made sure to keep at least one level above Jennings. The sound of a heavy metal door open and close suddenly filled the the stairway. He crept down the stairs and peered down. Finding no one, he came down and approached the door. Looking through the window he watched Jennings hobble down the hall and into a room at the end of the hall. Joel slowly pushed the door open, without a sound, and closed it behind himself.

Joel pulled out his pistol and made his way down the hall. Lights and computer screens flickered in the rooms as Joel passed them by. Eventually the lights gave out and the dim emergency lights kicked in. As he reached the end of the hall he could hear typing and mumbling. He leaned in closer so he could hear what Jennings was saying.

"Dammit! Fuck.. Fine I'll do it manually."

Jennings walked away from the panel and pulled out his gun. He then disengaged the deadbolt, kicked the door open, and took a few steps back.

"Alright come on you fuckers!"

The first Clicker cleared the door and lunged forward toward Jennings. With one shot to the head it was down. Another quickly followed and got the same treatment.

"Right then. Let's get this over with." Jennings said as he entered the cell.

June was still in the fetal position rocking back and forth, completely oblivious to what was going on around her.

Jennings reached into his pocket and pulled out a ring of keys and picked up the heavy padlock to insert the key. Before he could turn the key Joel came up from behind him and wrapped his arm tight over his neck, cutting off his windpipe. Jennings thrashed and gripped tight on Joel's forearm. Joel squeezed tighter, and with one quick movement broke Jennings neck. Jennings body fell limp and Joel dropped him to the ground.

Joel pushed Jennings body aside and picked up the ring of keys. When he stood up he finally got a look at June. She was in the fetal position rocking back and forth, with her face hidden in her arms.

"June... June... Can you hear me?" Joel whispered through the bars as he began to try one key at a time with the lock.

June did not respond to this. She just kept rocking back and forth.

"Jesus woman what did they do to you?" He mused as he tested another key.

After three more attempts he found the right key and unlocked the cage. With one swift movement tossed the lock behind him, and swung the door open. With the loud creak of the hinge June sprang to life. She crawled sideways and leaned into the bars screaming, "No. No more! Please!"

"June. It's me Joel." He said slowly approaching her.

She silenced her pleas, and cautiously looked over to Joel. She looked at him with wide eyes of came in closer and reached for one of her hands.

"It's okay. It's just..." Joel lost his train of thought the moment he saw Junes hands. "Shit." He said as he held her hand up to the light.

Her fingers were bent out of joint to the point she could not move them.

"Joel?"

"Yes. It's me."

"You came back for me?"

"Yeah. Now c'mon. Here."

He pulled off his bag and got out his jacket, and put it on her.

"I told you not to come for me. Are you crazy? Why would you..."

"Because I don't feel like crossing the goddamned states to find another doctor."

"Christ your an idiot... You know that Joel." June said as Joel buttoned her up.

"I know. I know. It's just.. Well your the only person I'd trust with Ellie's life."

June was struck by this comment and was at a loss for words. She watched him fumble with the last few buttons, and then smooth down the sleeves. She held her arms out straight to help him, but shuddered when she caught a glimpse of her hands.

"Oh shit!" She gasped as she observed the grotesque condition of her fingers.

"I can fix that for you, if your want."

"Heh. Yeah just get it over with."

Joel took her palm in his left hand, then lined up her four fingers together with his right hand.

"Ready... One... Two... Three!"

"FUCK! Owww... Shit! Where in the hell did you learn to do it like that?"

"I worked construction."

June rolled her eyes and held out her other hand.

"Better than doing one at a time."

She shook her head and closed her eyes.

"One... Two... Three!"

"Ahhh... Fuck. Ah. Man."

"Better?"

She held her hands out and tested her fingers by bending and wiggling them.

"Yeah, I guess."

"Do you think you can stand?"

"I think so. Let me try."

She took his hand and pulled herself up. Her legs were a bit shaky, but otherwise she was okay. Joel wrapped his arm around her side and helped her out of the room.

"How long were you in here like this?"

"Ever since I woke up after trying to get the boat."

"That was almost nine days ago."

She shook her head, and turned away from him and said, "let's just get the hell out of here please."

As they made their way up the stairs June became weaker. By the fifth flight she lost her footing and nearly caused them to fall forward.

"Christ woman. You okay?"

"No. I've been stuck in a cage for eight days and beat to hell for two. I am very far from okay."

"Alright." He sighed as he picked her up.

He carried her up the rest of the stairs and down the hall. He slowed his pace when he got to the lobby. Once at the front door, he noticed headlights.

"Shit!"

"What? Who is it?"

"Here, I'm gonna check. You stay here." He lowered her down onto the ground and peered around the front door.

As soon as he did this the car honked three times, then came closer to the door. The driver window opened and Ellie yelled out, "Joel! Hurry get in!"

"What the hell...Uh." He then turned over to June and picked her up.

"Was that Ellie?"

"Um-hum"

"When did you get a car?"

"I don't know. I told the girl to stay put back at the bluff."

"She never listens to you does she?"

"No, no she doesn't."


	26. Chapter 26

They drove through the night, and most of the day. Ellie and Joel would switch off driving every four hours, while June slept in the back seat. After about the twentieth detour around jammed up highways, they found a rugged trail through Ohio's Wayne National Forest. Eventually the humidity, and their lack of sleep finally caught up with them, so they began to search for a place to rest. Once through the forest they found an abandoned house in Murray city.

It was a single story house on the outskirts of the city. After scanning the outside grounds and checking the inside thoroughly, Joel jimmied the garage open, and Ellie pulled the jeep in and turned off the engine.

" Phew. I am starving!" Ellie exclaimed as she hopped out of the car.

Joel pulled down the garage door and walked back to the car.

"Hey. Take in the bags. I'll get June." Joel said as he went for the back door.

"Eh. Fine." Ellie said with a slight frustrated stomp to her gait as she headed to the trunk, and grabbed the bags.

Joel carefully opened the back door to the car. June was still fast asleep, and partially leaning against the door. He knelt down and nudged her shoulder to wake her.

"June wake up, we found a place to rest."

She rolled her shoulders and raised her hands up to rub her eyes.

"Huh. What?" She mumbled.

"We found a house to stay at. C'mon I'll help you up."

"Oh. Okay." She said as she slowly scooted round her seat toward Joel.

In the dim light from his flashlight Joel could see all the bruises and cuts on her arms and legs. Just by the looks of them he could tell they hurt. He helped pull her up and slowly walked her into the house.

"Joel! We got running water in here!" Ellie called out from the kitchen.

"Heh. Must be connected to a well." Joel commented to himself.

"Dibs on the shower." June mused.

By nine o'clock Ellie had inundated herself with enough food to put herself into a deep food coma in the back bedroom. Joel and June were still in the living room, on the couch, finishing up their meal.

"So this Wade character was part of your team?" Joel said as he grabbed an extra helping of canned green beans.

"Not exactly. He was more like a consultant. He did most of his work outside of the lab."

"Who exactly was he working for?"

"That I don't know." She said pulling herself up and walking over to a bookcase next to the fireplace.

She cocked her head a little, and then reached forward, pulling out a stack of books. "I thought that's what it was."

"What?" Joel questioned as he looked over to her.

She turned round and presented a bottle of Gentleman Jack Whiskey.

"Now that's a good find." Joel said as he received the bottle.

"Seriously." June said as she sat down next to him.

He opened the bottle, sniffed it, then took a quick sip. He held it in his mouth for a few seconds, making sure it was the genuine stuff, then swallowed. He grimaced slightly as it burned the back of his throat.

"So how is it?" June said sitting on the edge of the couch waiting for his answer.

He sat up and took in another swig, and repeated the same process just to be safe. Looking over he could see she was waiting with great anticipation for his answer.

"Well?" June questioned as she waited on bated breath.

He took this as an opportunity to tease her. So he held his right hand up with his pointer finger up in an expression to silence her, and took a big swig from the bottle.

"Hey! C'mon. Save some for me!" She said lunging forward and reaching for the bottle.

"It's better than I remembered." Joel said as he handed it over to her.

"Whoooaah.. Sooo much better than that Moonshine shit I made." She sighed after she took a big gulp, and leaned in close to Joel's side to hand over the bottle.

They passed the bottle back and forth and continued to chat about Dr. Wade, Ellie, and then got onto the subject of future plans.

"We should be able to make it to the lab in a three days." Joel said as he reached over for the bottle.

June was now on the opposite side of the couch, leaning back on the arm rest, with her legs over Joel's lap.

"Well that's some good news for once." She said as she ran her fingers through her hair, then rested her hands on her thighs.

"Don't worry something will come up and cause us trouble."

"Heh. Ever the hopeful Joel." She said before lifting the bottle to her lips.

"Well...Somehow we ain't dead yet." He mused as received the almost empty bottle, and set it down on the coffee table.

"I'm sorry by the way."

"For what?"

"For calling you an idiot when you saved me."

"Oh... Well it was pretty stupid."

"Yeah it was. I mean, I told you to not risk your life, and there you go... Running into a burning building filled with infected, and a full military unit at your heels."

They both laughed at this, as they realized the absolute absurdity of them surviving this.

"You know you were right." June said once their laughing subsided.

"About what?"

"How finding something to fight for keeps you going. I know damn sure that I can't forget the past. But at least, when I am with you two, I feel like living can't be all that bad." She then reached forward and took his hands in her own and kissed the top on knuckles in an act of gratitude.

As she lifted away from his hands she looked up at his face. He was showing no sign of wanting to flee away from her like he did in the past. Instead he had a calm expression, with a slight smile. Unconsciously she leaned into him and kissed him on the lips.

At first, it felt one sided as she pressed her lips to his, so she began to pull herself away. But, the moment she did, he brought his hand up and pulled her back to reciprocate her kiss. She let out a unexpected moan when she felt the palm of his hand on the center of her back pushing her in closer to him, and deepening their kiss. She lifted up to her knees, without breaking their kiss, and maneuvered into a straddling position. He ran his fingers through her hair and down her back, as she began to unbutton his shirt. As she reached the lower buttons she trailed kisses down his neck and to his chest. Once she got the last button to his shirt she immediately reached for his belt.

"Hey. Wait." Joel said grabbing her hand.

"What? What's wrong?" She said in a whispered tone between deep kisses and sucking on his lower lip.

"Eh. No...No... I mean.. What about the kid?" He asked as he struggled through her vicious attack.

"She had five helpings of food tonight. She is out cold." She said moments before she seized his tongue.

Joel let out a low satisfied groan with this, released her hand, and fully submitted to her.


	27. Chapter 27

Ellie woke choking on her spit. She was laying diagonal across a queen size bed sprawled out on her back, and half covered with a wad of sheets. She sat up and rubbed her eyes. The light streaming through the boarded up window told her it was early afternoon.

"Man I'm hungry." She sighed to herself as she got off the bed and walked to the door.

Coming down the hall she could see the living room. Her attention was instantly attracted to Joel's shirt, which was on the floor behind the couch.

"Huh?" She mused to herself as she slowed her pace.

She crept down the hall on balls of her feet. Sticking close to the wall she turned toward the kitchen for a better vantage point. She knew Joel, and he was never one to leave his stuff around. For all she knew this could be some kind of warning. She could not take any chances. So she crouched down, and hugged close to the lower cabinets in the kitchen. Once she reached the end she took in a breath and peered around the corner. Looking over to the couch, she could see more articles of clothing on the ground, some Joel's, others June's, and the hide a bed pulled out of the couch. She then spotted a knocked over bottle of booze on the coffee table. In her head she began to connect the dots.

Sensing no danger she got up from her hiding place, and walked over to the pantry. Looking over shoulder she could see them on the bed, still asleep. She smiled to herself when she saw Joel's face. He had a very peaceful expression, as he slept. Turning her attention back to the pantry she spotted a can of peaches far in the back, next to some tomato paste. As she reached in her elbow nudged a can off the shelf and to the floor. To her right she heard the quick jumble of sheets and the distinct sound of the hammer of a pistol being pulled back.

"It's okay! It's okay! It's just me!" Ellie got out quick as she put her hands up, still facing the cabinet.

"Ellie! Jesus... What the hell..." Joel began as he lowered his gun.

"Joel... Oh shit! What." June said in a groggy tone, in reaction to the sound and seeing Joel with a gun.

Looking over to the kitchen June spotted Ellie, with her hands up, and a smirk on her face.

"Alright just get it out... What are you going to say... C'mon. I can see you formulating something snarky." June said as she held the sheet up to her breasts, and reached over the side of the bed for her shirt.

Joel flumped back down onto the bed, and stuffed his gun into the nook of the arm rest next to him.

"I was wondering when you two were going to hook up." Ellie finally got out.

"Heh... Well that was tamer than I thought it was going to be." June mused.

"Oh. I could go on... But, I think Joel would die from embarrassment."

"You might be right on that." June said as she turned, and saw Joel put his hand over his forehead and slide it over his eyes.

Ellie continued to rummage through the pantry till she pulled out two cans of peaches.

"Hey! Those better not be the last two cans of fruit your planning on eating." June threatened.

"No... Um... Maybe..."

"Ellie!" June said with a playful scowl.

"What are you gonna do about it June. Your pants are all the way on the opposite side of the room, and I got a clear path."

For a second they had a standoff with their gazes fixed on each other.

"Fine! Eat them all kid. But, I'll get you next time!" June said submitting to defeat.

"Ha!" Ellie exclaimed as she took her victory walk back to her room, and closed the door behind her.

"It's over now Joel. You can come back to the present." June said as she sat up and untangled her shirt.

He looked over to his left, through his fingers. June had dropped the sheet and was fiddling with her wadded up shirt, with her breast completely uncovered.

"Relax it could have been worse. I mean... Oh man!"

"What?"

"Ehh. All my buttons are missing from my shirt."

He smirked a little at this, and let out a little chuckle.

"Oh you laugh at this now. But, unless I find another shirt in this house. I am going to make you sew every button back on this shirt yourself." She said as she took off the shirt and threw it at him. "For now..." She began as she stood up and walked around the couch. "I will be wearing your shirt."

By the time he pulled her shirt away from his face, she had his green long sleeve shirt on, and was buttoning it up. Once she was done she scrunched up the sleeves and headed to the kitchen. The back of his shirt hung just low enough to cover up her butt.

"It's a good thing I thought ahead last night." She said opening a low cabinet next to the pantry.

She reached in and pulled out an old pot, and brought it over to his side of the bed.

"Spotted these babies last night." June commented as she plopped the pot onto the bed next to him, and crawled back under the sheet.

Joel sat up, reached into the pot, and pulled out a can of pears.

"Oh dam, she's gonna be pissed." He said as he held it up.

"Yeah. I knew that if I didn't hide them she would have her grips on them first thing in the morning." June said as she took the can and pulled the tab to open it. "So.." She began, taking a slice out, "we better finish off the evidence before she finds out."

She then offered him the first slice. He opened his mouth and bit down on the sweet pear slice.

"Still good?"

"Oh. You were using me to test it?"

"Perhaps?" She said with a nervous smile.

"Seem alright to me. But just in case why don't you give me all these cans to check for you. I'll tell ya after I finish them off." He said as he reached over, and gripped round open can in her hands.

She turned round pulling away from him, in attempt to breaking free. But, he grabbed her round the arms and pulled her into him, and leaned back onto the couch with her pulled onto his lap. For a few seconds she struggled against his grip.

"Alight, alight. I give up, here." She pulled out another slice and fed it into his mouth over her right shoulder. "So... How you feeling about this. I mean... Dare I ask, any regrets?" She bit her lower lip with this question, because she was unsure how he would answer.

A few seconds went by without him saying a word, making her feel uneasy.

"My only regret is that it had to happen now, and not after we got back home."

She couldn't help from smiling at his answer. Turing to her right she looked over her shoulder at him.

"And why is that?" She asked, wanting to get more from his meaning.

"Well, let's just say I won't be able to relax till we are all back home."

"Dear me, are you saying you care about me Joel?" She said turning to face him.

"Now how is it girls do that?"

"It's just what we do." She whispered as she leaned in and kissed him on the lips.


	28. Chapter 28

It was the tenth day of driving. They had tried every highway to get though Pennsylvania, but they were all blocked. So they opted to double back and go through Canada. This was not the favored option. But, they really didn't want to give up the car.

Canada faired pretty much the same as the states. However, it looked like there was more of an attempt of keeping the infected out. A tall wall looked to have been erected, and maintained for some time, but now it lay in crumbles mixed in with abandoned junk cars, and remnants of wayward tourists.

It was almost noon, and June was at the wheel. Ellie was in the back nodding off as she listened to Joel tell the history of country music. They had just passed Niagara Falls, and were entering Buffalo. June had been feeling like shit ever since she woke up that morning. She chalked it up to her dread of coming back to that place. She had set it in her mind, after being alone for five years, that she should never go back to that place. Now, here she was, on route to the place her life ended.

Adjusting her seat belt, a violent wave of nausea hit her so hard that she slammed on the breaks.

"What the Fuck?" Ellie exclaimed, as she rubbed her forehead where it smacked against the center council.

June quickly unbuckled herself and leaped out of the car, just in time to puke along the highway.

"Ellie, keep an eye on the car." Joel said as he pulled up the emergency brake and opened his door.

Walking round the front of the still running jeep, he spotted June heaving next to a flipped minivan.

"June, you alright?" He said coming up from behind her.

"Yeah... Just... Eh... Alright. I'm better now."

She pulled herself up, wiped her face with her sleeve, and walked past Joel to return to the driver's seat.

"Now wait a second. I don't think you should be driving after that."

"It's okay Joel. I can manage. I prefer driving. It keeps my mind clear." She said buckling up.

"Okay." He said as he scratched his head out of question at her behavior.

That night they had reached Pulaski, New York , which was just a short drive to their destination. Joel made the executive decision to stop and rest there, seeing as June only got worse after the morning drive.

"I'll take the first watch." Ellie said as she sat by the fire.

Joel walked over to the tent and unzipped it. June was laying on her left side, and using her big sweater like a blanket.

"You asleep yet?" He questioned as he lowered himself down next to her.

"I wish I was." She said not moving.

"Well try to get some rest." He said as he settled down on his back.

She rolled over and found a comfy spot in his side. Her mind was racing a hundred miles per hour, and there was no stopping it. Her thoughts jumped from her last memories of being at the lab, then to Wade and the hell he put her though, then mixed in with the possibility of Wade being there waiting for them. Her heart rate picked up with these dreadful thoughts, and her stomach tied itself in even tighter knots until she felt Joel wrap his right hand round her hip, and rest his palm on her stomach. The warmth from his hand began to ease the knots in her stomach.

"We'll try to get in and out as fast as we can tomorrow." Joel whispered to June.

She didn't say a word to this. She just took in a stifled breath through her panicked thoughts, and tried to fall asleep.


	29. Chapter 29

They departed for the lab at dawn, and just before noon they reached Orwell. Wanting to keep a low profile, they left the car a few miles from the Salmon River Reservoir, and went on foot the rest of the trek. They all kept a pretty good pace, and by mid afternoon they reached the bluffs on the eastern side of the lab.

June stood on the eroded edge of the bluff, and stared in disbelief over the rubble that was once the lab. Time, and nature had changed it. Most of the structure was gone. Only a few cement walls poked out from the vines and trees that began to grow through the area. If it weren't for the horror of the event burned in her memory, she would not have recognized this place. As she took in the view, Ellie came up from behind her and lightly tugged at her arm, and softly asked, "So how do you want to do this?"

June blinked, for what felt like the first time in a long while, and cleared her throat, "oh. Yeah. So we should head round the back. We will have to cross the river."

"You mean the one with the crazy as rapids?" Ellie said pointing in the direction of the treacherous river.

"Yes. Well. The bunker is only right there on the bank. You could hold on to our supplies while I cross." June said as she lowered her pack off.

"I'm coming with you." Joel butted in.

June knew better than to argue with him. Especially with what happened last time.

"Okay then." She said as she untied her jacket from round her waist, and dropped it to the ground.

The river was wide, and the rapids were treacherous. They had to walk up river a little, so the current would carry them to a fallen tree they could clamber onto to reach the other side.

"Christ, that was a lot colder than it looked." Joel commented as June helped pull him up.

"Awe it wasn't that bad." June said as she began to wring out her shirt.

"So where is this bunker?"

"Well... Let me see..." June looked round, using her hand to shade her eyes. "Oh, there it is."

June headed through the brush, and stopped once she reached a old willow tree. The tree looked ancient. Its main thick branches twisted up, and cascaded down in think clumps of foliage onto the surrounding area. To the right of the tree were three large serpentine boulders, which were mostly covered with piles of leaves and ivy vines.

"Okay. Let's get this over with." She said waving him over in the direction of the boulders.

Pushing some of the vines aside she pulled up an steel hatch, turned on her flashlight, and headed down the cement steps.

"Careful, those steps are slick." She said as she gripped onto the railing.

Once she reached the bottom step she scanned over the room with her flashlight. The room had two metal tables in the center, with cabinets lining the walls. The space was surprisingly clean, too clean in fact.

"Joel, there is something wrong about this place."

"Yes. I do think there is a major problem here," chimed in Wade suddenly.

June spun around, and shined her light in the direction of his voice. There she found Wade pointing a gun as Joel's head.

"What the fuck Wade!"

"What the fuck indeed June. I mean... Who is this guy? Joel...? He looks like The Brawny man's grizzly doppelganger. I thought you were only into nerds." Joel slightly twinged at this insult,"careful, I wouldn't move too much. I have been here for almost two days with very little sleep. My trigger finger is feeling a little twitchy."

"What do you want Wade?" June said slowly coming closer to them.

"Well first thing first. Turn the dam lamps on."

June walked past him. As she did she scanned the area for any openings to free Joel.

"Don't be trying to think up a fancy escape. I am perfectly fine with blowing this guy's head off."

"So where is the rest of you team Wade?"

"Let's not talk about that right now, and just focus on turning the fucking lamps on."

June reached the corner counter and began to turn on the large lamps. Their light slowly built up till most of the room was lit up. She turned and looked over to Wade. His hair was ruffled up, and his clothes were far more disheveled than she had ever seen them before.

"You look like hell Wade."

"Why thank you June. You always know the right thing to say. Now give me the fucking key!"

"Why? Why do you need the research? What more could your employer want?" She questioned as she pulled out her necklace.

"Well..." He began, as he reached down and disarmed Joel. "Since I plan to kill you both anyway, I guess I can fill you in a little." He then waved her over to his location, with the gun still to Joel's head.

June slowly walked over to him, with her hands up. Wade side stepped away from Joel and put the gun to June's head, and began to check her for weapons. "I need the research so I can reverse engineer it and develop a cure."

"Oh that's very noble of you. Didn't think you had a heart." She said as she gave him a dirty look when he lingered around her hips too long with his search.

"Oh no. It's not noble at all. You see with the cure there will be some adjustments made. So... A partial cure, but this time it will be different." He commented as he pulled out her revolver from the back of her pants, and slipped it in his pocket.

"Alright, get that key ready. We are walking over to the safe."

He pushed the gun hard into her temple, and with his free hand wrapped it round her neck to steer her.

"Open the locker." Wade instructed.

June reached forward and pulled up the already cut open lock. There, hidden behind the old locker facade was a very sophisticated safe. The entire face of this safe was buffed out metal except for the thin key chip hole at the bottom.

"Alright. Open it up."

June lifted the key up, and brought it forward.

"Hold it!" Wade began, as he reached for the key, while still holding the gun up to her head. Turing the key round with his fingertips he chuckled a little to himself. "Oh. That is pretty clever. You were going to let it all burn up weren't ya."

He smacked her in the head with his gun hard, knocking her to the ground. Joel sprang to his feet and lunged forward.

"Not so fast!" Wade exclaimed pointing his pistol at June. "I'll shoot if you try anything!"

Joel halted and held his hands up.

"Now. Be a doll and open up this key for me June." Wade said dangling its chain in front of her.

Blood streamed down the side of her brow, and into her eye. Her ears were ringing from the blow, and her vision blurred as she pulled herself up.

"You should know I would instantly recognize the blue arrow. I mean come on June. Rene and I went to school together. Those annoying ass arrows were all over the place."

June slid open the casing and pulled out the micro chip.

"Go on. Put it in." Wade encouraged as he pushed the gun more into her temple.

June took in a stifled breath and reached forward pushing the chip into the slot. A red, blue, and green light all lit up in unison after the chip slid in. Then the green light blinked three times and the locks disengaged.

"Open the door." Wade said as he pulled her up to her feet by the nape of her neck.

"Ahh... Shit. Okay. Okay."

June gripped her hand round the door and began to pull. As the door swung open Wade's face became pale, and his expression blank. All the shelves were empty, except for the top shelf. Sitting in the center of this shelf was a small black velvet jewelry box, with a handwritten note under it. Wade quickly snatched up the letter, while still holding his gun to June's head, and scanned it over.

As he read the letter his tightened muscled from his glare slacked, and he took in a sudden breath through his mouth. He gripped the letter, crinkling the paper and closed his eyes. June looked up at him, trying to figure out what was going on. As he opened his eyes she made eye contact with him for a split second. There was a mixture of emotions in his eyes: anger, frustration, and then sadness. He then opened his mouth as if to say something to her, but a sudden loud shock wave blasted inside the bunker and his head blew to pieces.

June's eyes were fixed forward, and followed his body as it fell to the ground. The sound of the gun shot rattled her bones, cancelled out her hearing, yet did not break her concentration on the horror of the scene. As the sound dissipated in the room she finally regained her voice.

"What that fuck!" June cried out, as she backed away from Wade's body.

"Nailed that fucker!" Ellie said as she walked down the cement steps into the bunker.

Her words were mostly lost to June and Joel. The loud rifle shot inside the bunker felt like it blasted a hole in their eardrums.

"Jesus Ellie! What were you thinking?" Joel scolded in a unnaturally loud voice.

"But he was going to shoot June!"

June was completely oblivious to their argument. Her eyes were fixed on the open safe. Standing now in front of it, she looked in disbelief. Every shelf was bare. She reached down to Wade's body and retrieved the letter and box. The second she looked at note she could tell it was written by Rene. As she read the note, tears streamed down the side of her face. Eventually she fell to her knees where she stood. She gripped hard onto the box and dropped the note behind her.

Joel and Ellie quit bickering when they saw June fall to her knees. Joel motioned to Ellie to stay back as he approached June. Coming up from behind her, he knelt down and picked up the discarded note. Holding it up to the light he read:

"Dear Geoff,

If you are reading this letter now, I am assuming that you have gone through with the plan. I want you to know that I do not blame you for your decision. If I had as much at stake as you, I would have not hesitated for a second. But, I can't with good conscience let you, or anyone else have access to the research. In hope to ensure the safety of my team, and all our families, I destroyed the data. I know that with what I have done there is a great possibility of me being killed. But for what your employer plans to do, I am more than willing to give up my life.

I know that they will be collecting me tomorrow morning. That is why I am leaving June's ring here. Please be sure to give her the ring, and promise me you will look after her for me.

-Rene"

Joel looked away from the letter and down at June. She was still on the ground, with a puddle of blood from Wade inching toward her. Her eyes were fixed on the open jewelry box in her hand. Inside the box was the engagement ring she had been missing for twenty three years.

"That fucking idiot!" June said under breath.

"What's wrong? Where's all the research? Is that another key chip?" Ellie questioned as she came closer.

"There's nothing here." June mumbled.

"What? What do you mean? Where is it?" Ellie said with desperation.

"It's all gone Ellie! Rene destroyed it all! Read the letter. It will tell you..." June broke into tears before she could finish her sentence.

Joel went over to June and pulled her up. Wrapping his arm around her waist he said, "let's just take what we need from here, and get the hell away. I'm sure he has a team close by waiting for him."

"There's nothing here to take." June said as she dropped the box with the ring in it.

Joel gave Ellie a quick look that told her to not to say a word. Ellie slumped her head forward, as they walked past her. She walked over to Wade's body and spotted the discarded note and the jewelry box. As she read over the note a heaviness hit her shoulders, and she became ill. They had had come all this way, and ended up empty handed yet again. Ellie crumpled up the letter and tossed it at Wade's body, and put the box in her bag. Her frustration was intense at this moment. She began to rip open cabinets and drawers all around her. One by one she found nothing, everything was cleared out, all she found was thick layers of dust from time.

Joel came down the stairs, and found Ellie standing in the middle of the now disheveled room.

"There's nothing here Joel. We came all this way... and..." Ellie's frustration culminated and all she could do was cry now.

"I know baby girl. I know..."

As Joel hugged Ellie, he looked around the room. After all the hell they'd been through they ended up empty handed. Sure they still had their lives, and there was the possibility June could come up with something in time. But, yet again everything turned to shit at the end.

"C'mon. Let's go home kiddo."


	30. Chapter 30

The bright afternoon light beamed through the window and blinded June. She lifted her hand and shielded her eyes. She was sitting at her desk, finishing up her log for the day. It had been almost seven months since that day at the bunker. They were now settled at Tommy's, and she was appointed as the town's doctor.

She spent most of her day treating trivial wounds and the occasional common cold, and rest researching on Ellie's condition. They had come across a few hospitals on their way home, and collected some equipment. With this, she was able to make a little headway on a treatment for Ellie. From behind, she heard Joel walk through the door.

"Time for dinner doctor."

"Doctor? Since when did you start calling me that?" She said spinning round in her chair, holding her pregnant belly.

"You sure you should be around sick kids in your condition?" He said offering her a hand to pull her up.

"Oh a little case of sniffles is not going to take us down." She said looking at her belly.

He helped pull her up, and together they exited the room.

The town was almost completely developed. Tall housing units were erected in the center, with small shops and school rooms around them, and a tall wall with guard towers enclosing it all.

"So what's for dinner?" June asked Joel as she waddled next to him.

"Dunno. Ellie cooked tonight."

"Oh..." She mumbled with some trepidation.

Joel laughed at her reaction. "Don't worry I hid the salt."

"Well that's a relief."

"I think everyone will be there tonight."

"So how high is the poll now?"

"Two million."

"High rollers now aren't ya."

"Well I think it's because Tommy is still sore from losing."

"What's your bet?" She said looking over to him.

"Don't know. Still trying to figure out how this is even possible."

"Hey, like I said before, I'm a specialist in the nervous system, not in reproductive health. Things could have changed with my body since my last treatments. For instance I could have..." She noticed that Joel was beginning to lose her, so she shifted gears. "Or you just have magic sperm."

He tripped slightly at her statement. She always managed to throw him off still, even after all this time.

"Is that your medical opinion?"

"Definitely. That's got to be it." She said trying to keep a straight face.

They continued down the path to the main housing units. As they came in closer to their unit, they could hear the voices of their family chatting and laughing together, and smell the aroma of a home cooked meal.


	31. Chapter 31

Sort of a happy ending... But, for me The Last of Us was not all about finding a cure. It was about finding a way to survive and move on with life.

Thank you for all your reviews and messages. It was an amazing experience to hear from so many people from all around the world.

If you enjoyed my writing style I have a few other pieces I am currently working on. So shoot me a message and I can send you a sample.

I hope you all enjoyed it.

-SO


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